


Dark Paths

by Ebonrune



Series: Bad Beginnings [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-16
Updated: 2014-03-20
Packaged: 2017-11-10 19:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 65,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/469889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ebonrune/pseuds/Ebonrune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been nearly three years since the Avengers were brought together to face the threat that Loki and the Chitauri presented, but now Loki has returned and the Chitauri are resurfacing. He claims to be against his once allies, but the Avengers still wonder; is Loki really on their side or is he playing them all for fools?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trial and Punishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first couple of chapters are a little slow, I was very new to the fandom at the time and was working on my grasp of the characters. I apologize for the stumbling baby steps you have to endure at first.

The energy of the Tesseract faded from around the two Asgardians and Thor looked around in confusion, finding that they had appeared on the broken Bifröst Bridge instead of Asgard proper like he had expected. After a few moments, his head snapped to Loki and his eyes narrowed when he saw that the other had an amused crinkle to his eyes above the muzzle.

"How did you do this?" He demanded to know, but Loki only continued to look amused and Thor grit his teeth. Of course it was useless to expect an answer when Loki had the muzzle on and finally the God of Thunder sighed and reached out to grab the chain which dangled between Loki's hands.

"Come then, brother." He spoke wearily. "Your trial and our Father awaits us."

Panic settled on Loki's features and he set in his heels, leaning back as Thor began to pull him, though he very quickly realized that doing so did no good on the bridge where there was no where to hook his boots into. He tried yanking back, but that of course did nothing either. In desperation, Loki finally threw himself to the ground in hopes that doing so would finally make Thor stop dragging him, but Thor only sighed and continued to pull him along.

"Thy childish tantrum is not impressing me, brother." Thor spoke to the other.

Loki would have growled if the muzzle allowed any sound to escape him and followed the only option he felt was left to him. Taking advantage of the length of the chain binding his wrists, he threw himself to the side and managed to dangle himself partially off the Bifröst Bridge. He would have thrown himself further, even though it potentially meant that he would come across the Other and his master again should Thor lose his grip, but Thor yanked him back. It did succeed in finally getting Thor to stop hauling him along, at least.

"What are you doing, brother?" Thor asked, honestly perplexed and looking at Loki as if he wondered if the younger had truly taken leave of his wits. Loki only could roll his eyes in response, and gathering his feet under himself, he stood up and then motioned with a hand at the muzzle.

"Oh no. You must think me truly foolish indeed. I am tired of your lies. I shall not release your silver tongue unless Father would deem it so."

Loki looked to the Tesseract container in Thor's other hand, then looked back to Thor and once more motioned to the muzzle, arching a brow at him.

"No, Loki." Thor turned away, but then jerked when Loki kicked him in the back of the leg and then promptly followed up by dropping onto his back and kicking the hand holding the chain to force Thor to let go. He rolled backwards and came up in a crouch again, eyeing the older warily.

Thor turned back to him, frowning. "Why do you persist in this? You have already lost, there is no point in continuing."

Loki looked off to the side and down off the bridge, but then he shuddered and looked back at Thor before getting to his feet and making insistent jabbing motions at the muzzle while giving Thor a scathing look that would no doubt cause a lesser being to combust.

Thor gave a heavy sigh. "You had best not make me regret this, Loki...." He put the Tesseract on the ground and stepped forward, bringing up both hands to press on the sides and front of the muzzle to cause it to retract and release.

"Ackh." Loki coughed and then spit to the side, working his tongue in his mouth. "Vile contraption! Who came up with that?"

"The Rock Giantess, Skaði."

Loki looked shocked for a few moments, but then laughed bitterly. "My own teacher creating my entrapments." He smiled in cold amusement. "Do you think she holds my attack on Jötunheim against me, vile cousins to her kind though they are?" His eyes narrowed and he leaned forward. "Or was it her knowledge of what I am that inspired her to make such a painful contrivance?" He bared his teeth. "All of Asgard knows of my true heritage by now, don't they?"

Thor nodded, looking at the one he thought of as his brother in sadness. "Father knew the truth would come forth eventually, but he thinks you are only half Frost Giant. Therefore, you are still Asgardian, still one of us."

Hope seemed to flicker in Loki's eyes briefly, but it quickly died away again like an ember going out and he straightened up once more.

"You know I will be killed."

"What? No." Thor shook his head in adamant denial. "Our Father would never--"

" _Your_ Father!" Loki snapped. "Your Father. Not mine." He looked away.

Thor looked at him in quiet pain for several moments before he gave a heavy sigh. "Enough. What did you do to the Tesseract to make it bring us here instead of into Asgard?"

"I did nothing."

Thor grabbed Loki by the front of his clothes, jerking him forward. "Do not lie to me!"

Loki flinched, then slowly brought his head around to look the older in the eyes. "I'm not." He stated. "I was amused when I saw it had happened. Perhaps it was drained by being used to open the portal and then bring us here."

Thor searched Loki's face for a few moments as if trying to discern if this really was the truth or not, then let him go and took a step back. "Your eyes..."

".....What of them?"

"They used to be green." Thor frowned. "Now they're blue."

".....Truly, Thor? Of all things, and you take issue with the color of my _eyes_?" Loki smiled ferally. "At least they're not _red_."

"......Come, brother." Thor once more sounded tired, emotionally wrung out. He brought up the muzzle. "We--"

"No! Wait! Wait!" Loki held up his hands and stepped back, only lowering his arms again when Thor slightly lowered the muzzle. "One last thing, Thor." He took a deep breath, then continued. "On your precious Earth, in the part of that world you so love to frequent called 'America'...they seem to have a....boon they give to those they have sentenced to death. A last request. I would ask of you to follow this, and grant me a last request."

"Father will not have you killed, Loki."

"You don't know that for certain!" Loki gave Thor a panicked, almost desperate look. "Sometimes he does things not expected. Thor...please."

Thor sighed heavily. "Make your request, and I shall consider it."

Loki shifted on his feet, looking uncertain and even nervous, gaze dropping downward. He stood like this for several moments before he lifted his eyes again, then swallowing hard, he stepped closer to Thor. Before anything had the chance to be said however, both men paused when they felt vibrations traveling through the bridge and Thor turned his head to see horses approaching in the distance. He hastily turned, dimly acknowledging Loki's hands taking the muzzle from him. 

"Heimdall." Loki muttered resentfully and Thor heard the sound of the muzzle engaging as the younger put it back on himself. Loki then stepped to Thor's side and stood quietly while the riders approached and pulled up in front of them.

"Prince Thor." One of the guards spoke while another jumped off his horse to retrieve the Tesseract. "We have been sent by Heimdall to escort you back."

"Ah. Of course." Thor tried not to seem awkward and only stepped forward to take the reins of an unridden horse. He paused and looked around at the others. "Only one?" He pursed his lips, and then turned to Loki. "Brother. You ride."

Loki gave Thor a look and snorted through his nose, but he didn't give protest other than that and stepped forward to get into the saddle, accepting a boost from Thor to get seated. The guard who had dismounted to retrieve the Tesseract handed the object to another and offered Thor his horse instead. Shortly thereafter, they all save that guard, turned to ride back to Asgard and begin Loki's trial.

\------------------------------------------------------------

"Loki Odinson." Odin spoke, his voice booming throughout the throne hall. "For your actions against Midgard, I hearby sentence you to lie beneath the crust of the world you wronged and endure the venom of an acid viper dripped upon you until your term is deemed complete."

Loki, who had been staring down at the floor since being escorted into the hall, felt a myriad of emotions. Relief that he was not to die, but fear at the idea of being at the mercy of an acid viper for an untold amount of time and also, there was pain....heart pain that in spite of all that he had done, he was still Odinson, still a Prince of Asgard.

"Skaði." Odin addressed the eight and a half foot tall Giantess standing by the throne. "Take Loki to his prison."

"Wait!"

Loki's head lifted and he half turned to look along with the others present as his wife, Sigyn, ran forward. She stumbled and fell just in front of Loki and though he was the prisoner and the one on trial, he reached down to help her up. She touched his arm briefly in mute thanks, and then turned to the Allfather.

"Great Odin. Though I do not ask of you to reconsider your sentence, I beg of you to please let me serve it alongside my husband. Allow me to catch the venom in a bowl so that his suffering is not constant, for I fear if his pain were to be never ending that his mind would shatter before he would have a chance to be redeemed!"

Odin smiled tiredly. "Your fidelity is heartening as always, Sigyn. If this is your wish, then I will grant it. Go and fetch the bowl, but do not tarry."

Sigyn gave a deep bow and turned to run off, lifting her skirt with her hands so she wouldn't trip again. Loki watched her go and then faced forward, dropping his eyes again. He could feel the glares of the court, and he found that he could not bear to meet their eyes, nor dare to look at Odin, or even Thor who stood by him. Most of all, he did not want to risk his eyes meeting those of Skaði, who had designed that which restrained him and would be the one carrying out his sentence.

Skaði. His once teacher in the arts of magic, or at least, the magics she could teach him. He had surpassed her long ago, or so he believed at least. Many of his powers were unique to Asgard, and had been oddly powerful for one of his age. It had taken Odin's confession that he was Laufey's son to explain it. But not all of it, no. There were still mysteries of which Loki knew not the answer to regarding himself, one of which was his ability to change form, a skill which no one else on Asgard showed the ability to do. An ability that he wished he could currently access so he could escape his fate.

After several minutes, Sigyn returned with a plain blue salad serving bowl and held it toward Odin for approval. Odin nodded in agreement of her choice, and then turned once more to Skaði, motioning her forward.

The Giantess approached, drawing something out of her dress and holding it up, which appeared to be a gold necklace with a green jewel in the center. Once Skaði was certain everyone had seen it, she held it to Loki's throat and it latched itself there. 

"Your powers to travel the paths between realms has now been taken from you." She informed the trickster. "So long as that collar is worn, you are bound. Only Thor Odinson and Odin Allfather can release you from it now."

What she wanted to say complete, she then drew forth the Tesseract to use its energies and transport herself, Sigyn and Loki to the location beneath the surface of Earth where Loki would serve out his term.

Magic ripped at Loki's clothing, tearing them apart and he found his arms yanked above his head by the chain before he was thrown backward with great force and pinned upon the ground by rock that had come to life to become his bonds. By the time he stopped seeing stars from his head hitting the ground, he found Sigyn kneeling at his side and he could hear the dripping of the venom from the snake as it fell into the bowl. Naked but still muzzled, Loki could only look at his wife gratefully for her sacrifice.


	2. Two Years Whence

Loki stood before his polished mirror and slowly smiled, stretching his face and then letting his expression broaden naturally when the motion didn't cause him pain. He was finally healed.

For two years he'd lain beneath the ground of Midgard, a magical, ever dripping venomous snake poised above his head. At his side with a large bowl had knelt Sigyn, his wife, prepared to catch the venom. But he had tricked Sigyn into that marriage years before, having killed her betrothed, Theoric and disguising himself as him for the marriage ceremony to reveal his true form only after the vows. For that she had made sure to get vengeance on him.

Though she had loyally held the bowl above the venom until it was full, whenever she had to empty it she had made certain that some of it would spill upon his body. Those two years had left him scarred and pockmarked not only on his face but on his body as well. Her betrayal of him was too great to ignore, but rather than punishing her for it, he had rewarded her. Once he had been freed of his imprisonment, he had traveled with cloak and mask to the graveyard outside Valhalla to locate Theoric's grave and use the darkest of necromantic magics to return him to life. He'd hid Theoric away while the reborn Asgardian was regaining his strength so that he could return to the Golden Halls to formally divorce his wife.

He scowled now, thinking of her, and turned away from the mirror. How shocked she had seemed and how bitterly she had wept, acting every bit the heartbroken woman when he had announced that he would no longer have her. That was, until Theoric arrived, at which point she had become subdued, softly thanking Loki for returning her real betrothed to her.

He made a cut off motion with his arm in silent protest against his own thoughts, once green eyes pale blue with his emotions. Sigyn had what she'd wanted all along and was of no more matter to him. Anger still boiled in his heart thanks to her however.

When he had been allowed back into Asgard, he had been neither offered nor taken to the healers, leaving him to walk about cloaked and masked or to isolate himself in his room to hide his maimed features from the other Asgardians until he could heal his injuries himself. It was Sigyn's doing that he so badly maimed, and it was Sigyn again that had no doubt prevented him from being given medical aid. Rather, he had been left to weave the healing spells himself, an agonizing process after his magic having been locked away for those two years. For six months he had endured in self-exile, accepting no visitors and gaining few knocking upon his door regardless save for Thor and his adoptive mother, Frigga.

But now his face was unmarred once more and his body held only shallow pocked scars. He could finally once more walk among the other Asgardians without being an object to be pitied. With that thought in mind, Loki set about dressing in his finery. He knew to whom he had to first present himself, and he wished to start with a good impression.

\------------------------------------------------------------

"Father."

Odin looked down at the green and gold clad figure kneeling before him and he smiled faintly. "Loki." He greeted his adopted son in a soft voice rich with weary affection for the troublemaker. "We have been long wondering when we would see you walking the halls once more."

"It has been a long and painful recovery, Father." Loki responded, lifting his head but remaining kneeled, fist held still over his heart. "But I am here now." He hesitated briefly, and then moved to stand. "A guard said you wished to speak to me when I could....I apologize for making you wait Father, but I....was still too scarred to be seen."

A flicker of pain crossed Odin's features and he shifted on the throne uncomfortably before he moved to stand. He set his helmet and staff aside, and then descended the throne. "Walk with me."

Loki inclined his head to the Allfather and moved to fall into step beside him. They walked in silence for several moments before Odin gave a soft exhalation.

"You could have sought out the healers, Loki." His tone, which could be as booming as Thor's thunder when he was angered was no more than a breeze whisper. "There was no need to suffer all these months."

Anger flickered in Loki's eyes, their sky blue hue turning pale. "I was neither offered nor taken to the healers after my return." He responded, his own tone tight with forced control.

"There was fear, Loki. You held great rage within you when you returned, the guards were afraid to speak lest that anger turn upon them. Even Sigyn feared you then."

"I am always feared." Loki turned his face away and clasped his hands together to resist the urge to punch the wall, though frost was forming behind his steps as they walked. "Because of what I am."

"You are an unknown, Loki." Odin spoke gently. "The son of an Asgardian and a Frost Giant. There has never been hearing of such a thing before. But it is your ambitions they fear even above your blood."

Loki grit his teeth, the frost beginning to thicken into ice in his wake and the hallway becoming noticeably cold. "When Thor and I were children, you said we both had potential to be your heir, yet there was never any question whom would ascend the throne. If I have had such ambitions, then it is because of the possibilities you dangled before me."

Odin sighed heavily and ran his hand over his face briefly. "The people favored your brother, Loki. I could not do anything about that." He glanced back at the ice and sighed again. "It isn't like you to lose control this way. Even in your darkest tempers, you haven't been like this before...."

"My time at the mercy of a venomous snake and a traitorous woman seem to have changed me." But Loki drew in the cold all the same, allowing the temperature around them to return to normal, though his eyes remained an almost gray hue.

Odin sighed again and took Loki's shoulders in his hands, halting their forward motion and turning the younger to face him. "Loki. Though you are not my son by blood, do not doubt my love for you. You are my son as much as Thor is. There can only be one King of Asgard, but that does not mean you do not have a place in the throne room. You are clever and you have wisdom. Thor could use you at his side, and for that matter, so could I."

Loki looked his adoptive father in the one eye he had left and then finally, he inclined his head, the anger leaking from his eyes and allowing them to return to their former sky blue. "You're right, Father. One cannot command the love of the people." Yet.

Odin patted Loki's shoulders and smiled to him. "Go see your brother." He advised. "He has been worried for you."

"I will." Loki promised. "But Father. What did you want to see me about?"

"Ah yes. I have need of your diplomacy." Odin motioned to the necklace collar Loki had been forced to wear since just before his imprisonment beneath Midgard's crust. "It is not an urgent matter however, Loki. Go see your brother first and then we may speak of it."

"....Yes, Father." Loki stepped back and bowed to Odin, then turned to go. Once away from the Allfather's gaze, he touched the necklace collar and frowned. The decorative contrivance kept him from using the dark paths between worlds and realms, and yet, after only a mere two years and six months they were going to remove it again, however temporarily? This had to be big, and more important than Odin was saying. Loki smiled to himself. Yes, he _was_ important to Asgard, and even if he truly couldn't be King--which was still up for debate as far as he was concerned--he could prove himself invaluable in other ways.

But first things first. He _did_ want to see Thor.

\------------------------------------------------------------

The practice hammers flew true to the targets and then were called back to the hands of Odin's eldest. Again and again Thor threw the two hammers, smaller than Mjölnir but still capable of inflicting a great amount of damage. Calling them back to his hands once again however, he found he was abruptly missing one and straightened up in puzzlement.

"Do you _ever_ get tired?"

Thor turned to see Loki approaching, holding his missing throwing hammer and his confused expression bloomed into a smile. "Loki!" He dropped the other hammer on the ground and hurried over to him, though his smile then transformed once again into concern. "Are you alright?" He brought his hands up as if to cup Loki's face, but then hesitated. "You kept yourself in your room for so long. I feared...."

"Fear no longer, Thor." Loki smiled and dropped the hammer he was holding off to the side. "I am well."

"Mm." Thor's hands closed on Loki's face and he pulled him close so that their foreheads touched. "It is good to finally have you back, brother."

"....Is it?" Loki asked. "I seem to recall a great deal of animosity."

"That was on your part, brother, not mine." Thor's hand moved to cup the back of the younger's head, holding him close as if he could somehow meld their thoughts together from the contact. "You are home now, and you are well. My heart is filled with joy."

Loki chuckled softly and closed his eyes. "Even though I have done so many things against you? Against Asgard?"

Thor was quiet for a time, and then he let go of Loki and took a step back. When Loki opened his eyes, he found the other looking at him sadly.

"I am sorry, brother." Thor spoke, his tone pained. "Whatever I did to make you feel as if you walked in my shadow. Truly, I am sorry. I never intended to make you feel as if you were less than I."

Loki took in a deep breath, let it out slowly and smiled. "I know." He said, and he did. Thor was as honest as Loki was the opposite. The great blond brute seemed unable to give voice to a lie.

"Well," Thor continued, deeming that all was well now and beginning to smile again. "This is good, is it not? All together on Asgard as it should be. A family again."

Loki sighed softly and shook his head. "It's just that easy for you. Forgiven and forgotten....I almost envy such innocence."

"Tis not innocence, brother." Thor corrected. "Tis faith. In the end, you are always my brother."

"I am _not_ your brother!" Loki abruptly snapped. He turned away, summoning the dropped practice hammer to his hand and spinning back to throw it at the target, though he did not have Thor's strength and it fell well short of the mark. He followed up with his throwing knives, which _did_ strike true, fixing deep. Loki finished it off with a blast of magic that blew the otherwise durable target apart and then stood there, panting while Thor just watched him sadly. After a few moments Loki straightened up and looked at the other.

"I am not your brother." He repeated, softer. "You know what I am, you know that I am not blood. I am not truly welcome here. Even before....ever in your shadow. Ever walking in your wake. Outcast and unwanted."

"You are _not_ unwanted." Thor strode the short distance to him and put a hand on Loki's shoulder. "I love you and Father loves you. You are my brother and you are his son. It does not matter if you are blood or not, you are still a Prince of Asgard."

"Always a Prince, but never a King." Loki intoned bitterly. He pushed Thor's hand off his shoulder and walked over to the shattered target to collect his throwing knives.

Thor gave a frustrated snort and called the throwing hammers to his hands so that he could return them to the weapon rack, then he waited for Loki to walk back over before restarting the conversation.

"I understand, brother." Thor said sadly, watching as the other began to pace around the training area. "You believe you are less than I because of our different skills, because those of Asgard always looked to me before you. I remember that time not so long ago when I had let all of that go to my head, when I'd put us all in danger taking us to Jötunheim. If only I'd been wiser then...."

"If only...?" Loki ceased pacing to face the older and spread out his arms, a bitter laugh escaping. "You lament because I may not have discovered my heritage then, not because of true _regret_. You would have killed them all, Thor Odinson. Do not forget that."

"They had broken into Asgard and almost succeeded in taking the Casket!" Thor shook his head. "But I was still rash, overconfident. It almost cost us all dearly, not just you....but you're right, regrets matter little. They got it regardless and we have lost the means of chasing them down further."

Loki rolled his eyes and put a hand to his face briefly. "You are so _blind_." He muttered in disbelief. He looked back at Thor and shook his head. "They never got the Casket, Thor. _I_ have it. I have always had it."

Thor looked at him in shocked surprise. "You? But what need have you of it?"

Loki sighed in exasperation. "I see why you are not yet King quite clearly. You are so very _very_ naive." He turned away, shaking his head, but then he suddenly turned back again with gray eyes and pointed at the other, frost forming on the ground around his feet.

"Didn't you ever figure out who let them in, Thor Odinson? Don't you _realize_ the only one who could have had the power to sneak Frost Giants into Asgard right under Heimdall's nose could only be _me_?!"

Now it was Thor's turn to sigh. "You think me blind, brother, for my forgiveness of your faults and crimes. Yes, I know you let in the Frost Giants, though I did not know that you held their Casket." He stepped toward the younger. "You fail to see that I do not care of these things. You are my brother, blood or not. My love for you will not waver, Loki, no matter how much you strive to make it so, though I cannot understand why you go to such efforts."

Finally Loki's expression crumbled and he lowered his head. When Thor reached out to embrace him, he didn't stop him, though he didn't return the affection and only rested his head on Thor's shoulder, eyes slowly closing and the frost melting away again. "Why....?" He whispered. "Why do you still care...?"

"Because you are my brother." Thor responded, clearly believing this to be ample explanation.

Loki chuckled bitterly and shook his head slightly. "......As you wish." He brought up his arms to hug Thor back and they stood there for several moments before Thor let go and Loki was able to step back.

Loki smiled slightly to Thor and patted his shoulder. "I will see you later, Thor. It has been a long time since I have been able to walk about freely and I wish to reacquaint myself with Asgard."

"Of course, Loki. Will you be joining us for the evening meal?"

"I suspect I will." Loki turned to go, inwardly sighing. How could someone that trusting possibly be a good King for Asgard? The Allfather surely had to be taking leave of his wits.

\------------------------------------------------------------

It was almost pitifully easy to get past the guards posted before the Vault. An illusion of hiding, a quick cast of a sleep spell and they were out. Loki walked slowly down the steps and past all the relics and weapons held within. He paused briefly, then straightened up and tilted his head.

"You were following me?" He remarked to the one standing in the doorway of the Vault.

"It's not here." Sif said, beginning to descend the steps to approach him, her two-headed spear held close to her side. When Loki turned, he could see she was fully armed for battle and he arched a brow at her.

"It's not here?" He repeated.

"The Tesseract. It is held in another's keeping, out of your reach."

"Still in Skaði's possession, then." Loki summoned the Casket of Ancient Winters and watched with inward glee when Sif stiffened, he turned away however to walk the rest of the way to the end of the hall and place it upon the pedestal on which it had once rested several years before. He was just lifting his hands off the handles on the sides when he heard Sif sprint the distance between them. Moments later, he found one end of her spear held to the side of his throat.

"So it was you who stole it." Sif snarled.

"Held in keeping." Loki responded calmly. "Now returned. You have no reason to be so irate."

The edge of the spear touched his skin and Loki couldn't help but flinch slightly at the sharpness of it. "What else do you 'hold in keeping', Loki?" Sif's tone was definitely hostile. "What more deceptions do you have in mind to threaten Asgard?"

Loki's brows furrowed. ".....Have a care, Sif. I paid my penance, as you and all of Asgard well know. I have little interest in having what I have regained taken from me again."

"Two years is a paltry time for crimes such as yours. Your sentence was not fully served out, _Jötun_." The spear's sharp edge drew a thin line of blood from Loki's throat. "Speak! What more plots?"

"Even if I had such," Loki's form dissipated from in front of Sif to reform behind and he grabbed her spear with one hand while he locked the other arm around her waist so she wouldn't be able to very easily move. "do you think I would speak of them to _you_?"

She struggled against him, however ineffectual it was, for though Loki was not as strong as Thor, he was still stronger than her. "Damn you!"

"I understand your dislike of me." He whispered by her ear. "For having so hurt Thor, you condemn me harshly. But I have paid my dues, Sif. Can you not find it in your heart to forgive my past transgressions?"

"Release me!"

"As you wish." Loki let go of her waist and pushed her forward, keeping his other hand on her spear. She too kept her grip on it, but as she spun around to face him, her free hand happened to hit the center of the Casket, which gave a flash and instantly coated her hand and part of her lower arm with frost.

Sif screamed in agony and jerked away, letting go of her spear to grab her arm with the other hand and then release it again quickly when the frost tried to coat her other hand. She backed away from Loki and the Casket, holding her frostburned arm as close to her body as she dared.

"Ooh." Loki tsked. "That looks painful."

She glared balefully at him. "So, you take pleasure in my pain. That suits."

"So says the woman who was threatening me with a spear." He held the hand not still holding her weapon out to her. "Give me your arm."

"I shall do no such thing!"

"You can continue to suffer," Loki still held his hand out. "or you can allow me to help you."

Sif glared at him for several moments more before she stepped forward again and thrust her injured arm at him all defiantly. He closed his hand on her lower arm and as she watched, the frost crawled off of her and onto Loki, showing his Frost Giant heritage as his hand turned blue and ridged as he absorbed the cold into himself. Letting go of her arm when he was done, Sif retreated from him and watched as his color slowly returned to normal.

"You really _are_ a Frost Giant." She hissed softly.

"And yet still a Prince of Asgard." Loki flashed his teeth, and then tossed her spear to her. "So watch how you speak to me, lest I become offended."

Sif caught the spear awkwardly, her formerly frostburned arm still hurting a fair bit and eyed Loki warily. "It seems as if the acid viper did no lasting damage to you. A pity."

"Oh, thy tongue is _sharp_ , Sif." Loki bared his teeth at her again in a feral smile. "You want to see what the vile snake did to my countenance?" He passed a hand over his face. "Behold then, if you can bear the sight."

Sif gasped at the illusion Loki now wore. Flesh burned away, exposing muscle and bone along his cheek and forehead on both sides of his face. Part of his nose and right eye were gone and she could see a couple of teeth where the acid had leaked under the muzzle he'd worn those two long years. His throat too had been exposed, blood leaking in small spurts with every beat of his heart and his breath whistling with every exhale.

But Loki wasn't finished yet. He undid his tunic and opened it to show Sif the rest of the damage. Ribcage exposed along his right side, air hissing out from a partially collapsed lung, half-dissolved muscles straining and quivering to expand his ribcage with every painful breath. The acid burns continued even lower, pocking into his hip and hinting at even more damage below his beltline.

Sif in all horror, couldn't bring herself to look away and Loki gave her a good long look before he did up his tunic again and dispelled the illusion so that the facial damage only slowly vanished.

"Six months it took me, dear Sif." He told her, dead eye rolling in her direction as it became sighted once more. "But it was never meant to kill or maim me permanently or my own healing magic, such as it is, would not have worked. Six months it took me to heal, but two years it took to do _that_ and yet you claim my penance is not yet through." His lip curled back in a snarl. "Thy art a sadistic one, Sif."

Sif swallowed hard, obviously shaken. "......Why did you come into the Vault, Loki?"

"To return the Casket to its place and nothing more." Loki's smile this time was almost mockingly kind. "Shall I see you at the evening meal, sister through marriage?"

".....Not as like." Sif attempted to regain her composure. "Your first meal outside your self-exile should be with family alone." She pointed her spear at the door. "If you are done in here Loki, then I would advise you to leave and make yourself ready for your appearance at the Allfather's table."

Loki chuckled. "I'm not in such a rush as that. Time yet to dally about, if I so chose." But Loki turned to leave the Vault without protest. He'd managed to shake up Thor's beloved, and that pleased him quite a fair bit. Like the Warriors Three, she had never much cared for him and now it seemed that wary dislike had bloomed into full out hatred, or something akin to. Well, two could play at that game and he had learned much crueler tricks during his exile in the company of the Other and his Chitauri. If she would not respect him, she would at least learn to curb her tongue in his presence.

He left the Vault, waving his hand back at the guards to undo the sleep spell so they would gradually begin to waken and finding his mood at last beginning to truly lift. He was home, and he suspected that in spite of the court knowing of his true birth, nothing much was going to change. It had been two years and six months since they'd last all seen him, after all.


	3. Close Encounters Of The Loki Kind

Returning to his room, Loki opened the door only to hear a splash from his bathing pool. Immediately suspicious, Loki lowered his stance and crept forward, cradling a spell in his hand, ready to unleash on the intruder.

"Hail, brother!"

"Thor?!" Loki straightened up, dissipating the spell. "What in the Nine Realms are you doing in my room?"

Thor smiled playfully at him, sitting quite contently in Loki's bathing pool. "Come now, brother. It has been three years since we have last--"

Loki had swiftly approached, crouched and was now holding one of his throwing knives to Thor's throat, eyes narrowed. "Why" He spoke with quiet menace. "are you in _my_ room and _my_ bath?"

Thor blinked and the humor drained out of his face. "It would seem that Sif has been made to be angry with me and has replaced my bathing soaps with ones suiting to....well....maidens."

"Oh?" Loki continued to hold the knife against the other's skin. "And how did you manage this, Thor? Did you leave Mjölnir between the sheets?"

Thor grimaced slightly. "Actually....yes."

Loki's eyebrows rose, and then he laughed and drew away, sheathing the throwing knife. "Oh, that is _fine_. That does much to explain her foul humor indeed!"

Thor turned to watch Loki as he strode to the far side of the bathing room. "You came upon Sif?"

"A passing of no consequence." Loki began to arrange his towels and washcloths, his back to Thor. "She spoke that she would likely not be at the evening meal however. It would seem your dearest wife is not keen to gaze upon my countenance."

"Ah." Thor turned away to resume his scrubbing, since it seemed that Loki was willing to let him stay. "She holds much anger in her heart toward you."

"Do you blame her?" Loki asked softly.

"No...but she does not understand. She does not have the family bonds that we do."

"A fact she is likely glad for."

"Loki!" Thor turned back again, but then paused when he saw the other was undressing. "....You are joining me?"

"If you have not sullied all the water, then I too would make use of it." Loki responded. He set his clothing aside and picked up a towel and washcloth to step over, then knelt to get into the water, hissing softly at the heat of it. "By Surtur's flaming tits! Did you use all my heating stones at once?"

Thor's expression became concerned. "Is it too hot for you, brother? I could--"

"Oh be still." Loki shot him an annoyed look as he settled in slowly. "I am not about to _melt_. It is simply hotter than I would have a bath."

"Ah...." Thor sat back and for a few moments an awkward silence stretched between them.

"So, Thor." Loki spoke up at last as he began to wash. "If Sif had done this terrible thing in hiding your soaps, why did you not go forth to find a servant and have them replaced?

Thor made a slight face. "I tried. I was told there was nothing extra to give me."

Loki gave a light snort. "Truly, it seems almost as if Sif is my sister in more than marriage...." He shook his head, then looked at Thor again. "Why then did you think you would be welcome in _my_ bath?"

"We have been three years apart, brother. I thought....perhaps if you arrived before I was yet through that, well....." Thor motioned to the situation they were now in.

Loki rolled his eyes and sighed. "Still so very much the child...." He muttered. "Suit yourself then, I will overlook the intrusion this one time."

Thor chuckled and then things lapsed into silence, though this time it was a far more comfortable one as the two Asgardians cleaned themselves. After a few minutes, Loki lifted his eyes from paying attention to his own cleaning to watch the other and lifted a hand he had been skating over the surface of the water. He side-eyed the other, making sure Thor was paying attention when he summoned the cold, his hand turning somewhat bluish but unable to fully change because of the heat of the water he was sitting in. He touched the water and there was a brief flash before the water temperature abruptly dropped by several degrees.

Thor jumped in surprise and looked at Loki with brows arched, which sent Loki into a fit of laughter.

"That's not funny." Thor groused.

"Oh, yes it is." Loki disagreed. "It has been a long time indeed since I've last been able to make you jump like that."

Thor gave the other a light shove, and Loki chuckled before his amusement faded slightly and he turned to get out.

Thor moved over to that side of the pool, leaned his arms on the side and looked up at the other. "Brother?"

Loki looked down at him and gave a thin smile. "Thor." He returned. He reached out to touch the other's face with black-tinted nails, running his fingers over the older's coarse beard. He did this idly for a few moments before he drew his hand back and moved to stand. "Come, brother. Our father will soon be expecting us at his table, and it wouldn't do for I at least, to be late."

\------------------------------------------------------------

"Loki." Frigga greeted the younger as soon as he and Thor entered Odin's private dining quarters and actually ignored Thor completely to throw her arms around her adopted son. Loki stiffened in initial surprise, but then buried his face in her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her in turn. Though she'd been about as persistent at coming by his room the past six months as Thor had been, Loki had still wondered if he had her love after all that he had done.

They stood in embrace for nearly a minute before Frigga let go, seemingly with great reluctance and looked back at her husband, who had stepped over. Odin had his hand on Thor's shoulder, but when Loki was free of Frigga, he then stepped forward and hugged Loki as well, greeting him not as King, but as a father. Loki shut his eyes tightly against threatening tears and clung as tightly as if he was a child again, being comforted after a nightmare. Even if Odin had originally taken him for a selfish purpose, Loki had to admit that the Allfather did a fairly good job of making him feel like a member of the family.

Odin let Loki go almost as slowly as Frigga had and then turned back to the table. "Come, my sons. It has been long in coming that we should all dine together."

The two sons of Odin looked at one another, and then, just as they had many times in their younger years, raced one another to the table.

At first there was no discussion as the three Aesir sated their hungers and Frigga delicately ate. It was only once the initial hunger pains were sated that conversation could begin. It had always been this way, and though Loki knew that his prior innocence could never be reclaimed, he still saw no reason not to pretend for a time that he was indeed Odinson.

"Father." He spoke up now. "As to that matter over which you require my diplomatic skills."

"Hm, yes." Odin didn't even look up from the boar he was consuming. "I require you to travel to Nidavellir and request of them their aid in repairing the Bifröst."

Loki nearly spit his wine and hastily swallowed. "......And this was considered to be not an urgent matter?" They still hadn't repaired the Bifröst? "Skaði has the Tesseract. Why did you not send her?"

"You are better with words than she, Loki." Odin pointed out the obvious. "That aside, you know as well as any of us that our height compared to that of the Dwarves is enough of an insult to them. Think of how they would feel being regarded by a Giantess."

"Of course, Father. It is as you say." Had Sif been right then and his sentence was not fully served? Had he only been brought back early because in spite of what Odin had said about the matter not being urgent, it was becoming so? More importantly, was he to be returned to that hell once they no longer had need of his unique skills? He slowly put down the leg of mutton he had been ready to bite into.

"Loki?" Frigga had noticed his change in expression. "What troubles you suddenly?"

".......Am I home?" Loki asked faintly. "Or is all this but a reprieve from the viper for which I am to be returned once my task is through?"

Silence fell upon the room as all eyes turned to Loki. Odin hastily coughed and sat back in his chair.

"No, Loki." The Allfather spoke up quickly. "When you had returned, your state convinced us that you had suffered more than enough." He frowned. "Skaði had assured me that the acid viper would not cause more damage than you could heal from. It was never meant to be that severe."

"And likely it would not have been had Sigyn not persisted in pouring the contents of the bowl more upon me than the ground!" Loki snapped, fingers curling in and eyes snapping with magic quickly suppressed.

Odin nodded slightly, his eye sad. "It seemed I overestimated her ability to empty that bowl safely, though it seems so too had she. I am sorry, Loki."

Loki grit his teeth against the hollow apology and he turned his face aside. "It matters not what is already done now." He forced out. "I am rid of her and if my prior suffering means I am not to return to that damnation, then I shall consider it worthwhile."

Awkward silence stretched out again and Loki curled his fingers around the edges of his plate. ".....When shall I depart for Nidavellir?" He made himself speak normally to draw the topic back to safer waters.

".....As soon as it would be convenient for you, my son." Odin spoke gently, trying to soothe Loki's temper.

Loki nodded, staring down at his plate and then he stubbornly reached out for the mutton leg again. "Once the meal is through, then." He half-muttered. In all truth he would have been more than happy to leave that very moment, but he was not willing to deliver that slap upon those who had raised him when they had both greeted him so enthusiastically.

Silence once more reigned for a time, until Thor spoke up sheepishly, telling his parents how he had angered Sif and what had resulted from it, though Loki noticed that Thor did _not_ mention he had stolen into Loki's bath afterward.

Thor's efforts made the remainder of the meal far more bearable, and he and Odin went on to speak of warrior things. Loki caught Frigga's eye and she gave him back a tolerant smile, as this type of conversation was no more her cup of mead than it was Loki's.

Finally, Loki moved to stand. "Father. I must have this removed from my neck before I can leave for Nidavellir."

"Here brother, let me." Thor, who was sitting on the same side of the table as Loki, hastily wiped his hands on the tablecloth and stood, moving over to Loki and reaching out to touch the necklace collar, which seemed to all but fall into his hands.

"Ah....thank you, Thor." Loki smiled to the other, and then turned to Odin. "With your permission, Allfather, I will now depart."

Odin nodded to him and smiled. "Good luck, Loki."

Loki smiled back and gave a bow before vanishing. However, though he had every intention of doing as he had been tasked, he had other matters to take care of first.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Jane Foster sat huddled on a lawnchair in a thick blanket on the roof of the observatory in Puente Antiguo, New Mexico and stared up at the sky. She'd found that she did this fairly often, even though it was three years since she'd last seen Thor. She would just look up at the sky at night and search desperately and futilely for any sign of the atmospheric phenomena that hailed the presence of the Rainbow Bridge. In the first year after he'd returned to Asgard, she would physically drive to the site outside town, but gas was getting more expensive and it was just an exercise in futility anyway.

She sighed heavily and burrowed more securely into the blanket, staring up. "Thor, where are you?" She asked the sky. "You promised you would come back."

"Did he? Were those his exact words?"

Jane jumped and spun around, nearly falling off the lawn chair. A tall man wearing a gentleman's coat was approaching, his dark, shoulder-length hair slicked back from his face.

"W-Who are you?" She demanded to know, standing up quickly and dropping the blanket. "How did you get up here?"

The man stopped and smiled in amusement. "If not for your first question, I would have assumed from your reaction that you already knew who I was." He moved forward again, but walked past Jane to the edge of the roof and looked down, his coat billowing in the night chill wind.

"This is private property, buddy. I suggest you leave before I call the cops." Jane tried to sound threatening, but considering that the guy had a foot over her in height easy and she had no way of defending herself, she knew it was pretty unlikely he'd take her threat seriously.

He laughed, proving her right. "So tell me, Miss Foster. Have you really been waiting for my dear brother all this time? Doesn't that get tiring after a while?"

Jane paled, realizing she was in even more trouble than she'd thought. "Oh my God. You're Loki."

He looked back at her, expression filled with mirth. "Very good. Did Erik Selvig tell you about me? He was so very obedient, if a touch chatty about certain things."

She clenched her fists. "You bastard."

Loki laughed again and turned fully to face her, continuing to look horribly amused. After a few moments of regarding her though, his amusement faded and he tilted his head slightly. "Kneel."

Jane stared at him. "What?"

"Kneel." Loki repeated. "On your knees, mortal."

"....Yeah, no. I don't think so." She held her ground in futile defiance against someone who she was certain could turn her into a smear, and if his attempts against Thor and his usage of Slevig were any indicators, he would gladly do so and smile about it.

Loki's lip twitched in a brief show of amusement. "Fiery. Thor does so like the feisty ones." To Jane's surprise, he turned away again and stared out across the town.

Jane slowly reached down to grab her blanket and sling it over her shoulders, then she retreated from him, keeping her eyes fixed on him. ".....What do you want?"

"I wanted to see the woman who had turned the crass and impulsive Thor into one with compassion for his enemies. I wanted to know what had made him so _soft_." Loki's tone had been calm, but he bit off the last word as if it tasted foul.

".......Well if I made him soft, it looks like it worked out pretty well for you." She gave a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold when he turned back to face her with an unreadable expression, but she foolishly persisted anyway. "Yeah, Erik told me what you'd done, and what you'd tried to do. He also told me Thor took you back to Asgard for sentencing."

"Oh, and he had." Loki smiled coldly. "Tell me, mortal. Did the land suffer more tremors than was usual these intervening two years?"

"......I guess so, yeah." Her brow furrowed, not knowing what he was getting at.

Loki chuckled and his smile widened in morbid amusement. "The Allfather saw it fit to chain me beneath the crust of this world and affix over my head an acid viper. When its foul drippings would fall upon me, I would so writhe thus from the agony that the very ground above me would shake."

Jane licked her suddenly dry lips, staring at him. Loki laughed at her stunned expression, but between one breath and the next, the amusement was gone. He lifted a hand and flicked his fingers at her almost casually. Jane felt her limbs lock up and all she could stare as Loki approached her and reached out to tilt her chin up.

"What is it about you, mortal?" Loki asked, searching her face. "How does a simple creature like you influence a god?"

".....Well, I did hit him with my car a couple of times." Jane managed to force out, impressed with herself that her voice barely shook.

Loki blinked, but then he straightened up with a smile. "So that's it." He said. "It's your bravery. You can't fight and you have only the barest flutter of magic potential, but you still try to face up to me." He chuckled and then was gone and Jane found she could move again. She fell to her hands and knees, shuddering and wondering what the hell had just happened.

\------------------------------------------------------------

_"Sir!"_

Tony Stark, startled by JARVIS' uncharacteristic urgency, looked up from his work to find his eyes settling on one of the last people he'd ever wanted to see.

"Oh." He straightened up. "I don't suppose you've ever heard of calling ahead? Or knocking? It's really pretty rude to just barge into someone's workspace, you know."

Loki, clad now in his Asgardian clothing, smiled in amusement. "Ah, but I'd rather take you off guard. You're looking pale, Stark. Not pleased to see me?"

"Well if I'd known you were coming, I could have baked you a cake or something. JARVIS, get the green panels sent off if you would."

_"Already done, sir. Shall I begin on the blue panels as well?"_

"Keep them on standby." Tony kept his eyes on Loki as he shut down his workstation. "I thought you'd been taken back to Asgard for punishment."

"Indeed I was." Loki's eye twitched.

"Yeah well, unless time moves differently where you're from or something, it's only been about two years."

Loki's lip quirked up in a mirthless smile. "Two years and six months, give or take."

Tony finished closing down his workstation. "Seems like pretty light sentencing for everything you did."

"My my. Do I detect _anger_ in your tone?" Loki stepped closer, eyes searching Tony's face. He chuckled briefly, then passed a hand over his face and torso, vanishing his top and showing Tony the same illusion he had earlier subjected Sif to.

Tony paled, his eyes morbidly flicking from Loki's mutilated face to his exposed throat spurting blood, and finally staring at the trembling ribcage. He swallowed hard and brought his eyes back up to look Loki in the face, though he didn't find that at all easier to look at.

"This is what I suffered in those two years, Tony Stark." Loki's voice sounded oddly hollow, much of his air evidently escaping from his open throat and between his ribs. "Witnessing this, do you _still_ believe my suffering to have not been sufficient?"

"Uhm....no. No, that's pretty gory." Tony swallowed hard again, trying not to be ill. He almost gasped with relief when Loki vanished the illusion, returning himself to his prior dressed state in the same motion. "Uhm...what did that?"

"An acid viper." Loki finished closing the distance between them and placed his hands flat on the table, staring at Tony through his shut down panel viewscreens. "Where is the staff?"

"Hm?" Tony leaned back slightly. "What staff?"

Loki made a sound of annoyance in his throat and straightened up. "My staff, mortal. The one Thor foolishly left in your hands."

"Well, they weren't _mine_ , specifically--"

Loki slammed his hands back down onto the work table. "Where is it?!" He snarled, eyes liquid fire and seething with magic barely held in check.

"Whoa!" Tony held a hand up. "Hold on there, Magic Missile. I don't know where it is. SHIELD took it."

"....Really? Tony Stark, Earth's leader in technology, and they didn't let you study it?"

"Flattering as that is, somehow I get the feeling they don't really trust me with fancy toys that have to do with alien technology. Go figure."

Loki straightened up again with a growl and began pacing. "And you have no inkling as to its location."

"Even if I did, you think I would just hand that information over?" Tony picked up a stencil tool to twirl between his fingers while he watched Loki. "In case you forgot, you're not exactly on our friendly lifeform list."

Loki stopped pacing and looked at Tony with an unreadable expression for a few moments. "And if that situation were to change?"

Tony mutely arched a brow at him.

Loki stalked closer again, his movements decidedly predatory. "Even a man such as yourself must want for something. I could grant you your greatest desire. Information, technology....women. Give me the location of the staff and you could have whatever you wished."

"Yeah, no. I don't do bribes. Bad for business and all that." It was only the worktable between them and quick reflexes that allowed Tony to jump back when Loki lunged forward and made a grab for his neck, punching right though one of the hoverscreens like it wasn't even there. "Being all grabby isn't going to gain you any points either. Didn't your mommy ever teach you--"

" _Enough!_ " Loki drew his arm back, hands crackling with magic as he prepared a spell. Tony tensed, wondering just how much this might hurt if he couldn't dodge when footsteps on the stairs broke the stand off and Loki's magic died off so fast Tony's ears popped.

"Oh." Bruce commented, punching in the command code to open the door. "Well, this looks like fun."

Loki grit his teeth and backed away, eyes now locked onto the other even though Bruce hadn't made any threatening moves. "Banner." He grated.

"Loki." Bruce responded. "Nice to be remembered."

Loki barked a harsh laugh and grit his teeth. His eyes flicked briefly to Tony. "The staff should be in Asgardian hands, not human ones."

"Not your call to make." Tony tried not to seem smug at how obviously afraid of Bruce Loki was, but he couldn't help a small smile. "In fact, you're the last one who should be speaking for Asgard. Maybe you should get going before Bruce gets all green and smashy smashy. I'd rather have my lab in one piece, thanks."

It was clear that Loki was seething. "I _will_ have it, Tony Stark. You've just made locating it a little harder."

"The Avengers look forward to you trying." He waved as Loki vanished, then looked at Bruce. "Well, that was fun."

"A riot a minute." Bruce stepped over and examined the screen Loki had punched through. "So, how did you get JARVIS to call me without tipping him off?"

"Told him to send off the 'green panels'." Tony replied. "Green for you, blue for Steve. Red if we ever manage to get a hotline to Thor. Black for Natasha and purple for Clint. I tell him to assemble all the panels if I want to get everyone."

"Hm." Bruce looked up from the screen. "And I suppose you failed to mention to Loki the treatments that keep the other guy calm?"

"Hey." Tony put a hand over the min-arc reactor and pretended to be offended. "I respect your very intimate relationship between you and the other guy."

Bruce laughed and shook his head. "You're impossible, Tony."

Tony just smiled and shrugged before he turned away to get a screen to replace the one Loki had ruined.


	4. History Repeats Itself

Nidavellir. As Loki strode among the Dwarves, not a one taller than his hip, he got quite a share of stares and glares, and even some snickers as he was forced to bend over to avoid hitting his head in places. He seemed to take it all in stride, smiling pleasantly the whole way, and if their forges went out or their equipment suddenly gained legs and ran away, well, it was all in good fun.

Arriving at the palace, he found the gateway barred by a couple of hostile guards, their axes crossed before him.

"Identify yaerself, Asgardian!" One of them challenged him.

Loki clucked his tongue and inclined his head. "I am Loki. Son of Odin Allfather and Prince of Asgard. I have come to ask a boon of your King on behalf of mine."

The two guards looked at one another, and then one pulled over a ram horn attached to a metal tube on the wall. "Oi lads, look lively up there!" He bellowed into it. "One o' yae run tae th' King an' let him know tha' Loki o' Asgard wants an audience!"

Loki waited patiently, pretending to admire the architecture of the palace, which had been hewn out of the cavern itself and ignoring the glowering of the guards, who both seemed to be taking personal offense to his two extra feet in height as if Loki was as tall as he was just to be rude. That shrinking himself down to their height as he had once done a very long time ago would be considered an even _greater_ insult was of course overlooked.

Finally, after about ten minutes of waiting, the gateway opened and a pageboy barely into his beard stood there. "King Eitri requests th' immediate presence o' th' Aesir representative."

"Asgard representative." Loki corrected as the guards reluctantly pulled back their axes and he moved forward to follow the pageboy. "Aesir is my gender."

The pageboy had the good grace to be embarrassed by his mistake before hurrying ahead with Loki casually following behind.

When Loki was brought before King Eitri, he moved into a graceful kneel, spreading his hands out to either side of himself and bowing his head. "Thank you for seeing me at this late hour, gracious King."

"Prince Loki." Eitri greeted him. "And for what reason does Odin send yae tae seek out our aid?"

"The Rainbow Bridge has been shattered, and my Father requests the Dvergr's fine craftsmen to come and repair it and rebuild the Bifröst chamber." Loki lifted his head and spread a hand out toward the King. "For as all the Nine Realms know, there are none finer craftsmen and smiths than the Dwarves."

"Ah. Fine flattery falls from yaer lips, Loki Odinson." Eitri chuckled softly and sat back on this throne, stroking his beard. "But ae'll need more than yaer silver compliments. What does Asgard offer us in return?"

Loki hesitated. Odin had stated no terms, leaving it up to Loki to know how to best handle things. This in itself was not unusual, but this time Loki found that he felt it was. Had Odin really forgiven him all his transgressions, including those against Jötunheim and Asgard?

"Iron dug from under Fenrir's paws." He spoke up quickly, not wanting his hesitation to be given too much notice. "Of course, there is the matter of getting it, for my son's hunger burns on still....but I will do what I can to deal with him so the ore can be retrieved."

The King stroked his beard again. "There's nae telling of its quality, Prince. The ore could just as well be brittle as not."

"I would trust in your honor that you would not pretend it was if it was not, great King." Loki sighed and straightened up. "What would you wish if the ore is not satisfactory?"

Eitri had clearly been hoping for this, and he didn't even hesitate. "Mae youngest son Regin quarreled with a dragon and lost." He stated. "Ae would have him returned tae mae, whether or not the ore is of good quality."

Loki grit his teeth. "If his soul has not traveled to Valhalla, then getting it back would be a mighty challenge. Hela is a jealous keeper of the souls in her realm."

"She too is yaer child, is she not? Ae'm sure yae can handle her."

Loki sighed heavily. "I cannot give you a promise of success, noble King, but upon completion of the Bridge I will try my utmost."

"Yae donnae have good control of yaer children, Loki." Eitri spoke disapprovingly.

"They have minds of their own, and have long since passed beyond my keeping." Loki responded, trying not to seem frustrated.

"Ae will consider yaer request and terms. In the meantime, please accept our hospitality." Eitri motioned to a guard standing near Loki. "Escort the Prince tae the dining hall while a room is prepared for him." He looked back at Loki. "Ae apologize that things will be a touch small for yae, Prince. We're nae equipped tae entertain guests of yaer stature."

"Of course, gracious King. I perfectly understand." He stood to follow the guard who had been assigned his escort, not allowing his irritation to show on his face. The Dwarves weren't equipped only because they chose not to be, considering themselves mightier than the Asgardians because though small in stature they had strength to match their taller allies. Forcing Loki to sit at a table in a chair meant for someone only four feet tall was like a slap to the face that he had no choice but to put up with. So put up with it he did, eating as much of their food as he could and then slowly vanishing the rest so as to not insult them in turn by making it seem as if he didn't like what he'd been offered when in truth he was still full from dinner with his family.

Afterward, he was led to a room where four beds had been pushed together to give him more than ample room to stretch out, piled high with blankets. He graciously thanked them for the trouble before transforming himself into a black cat and curling up on the ice bear rug once the servants and his escort were gone, having no intention of sleeping on a bed that he knew would be lumpy and filled with hard straw not fit for horse consumption. That part wasn't intentionally insulting though, he knew. The Dwarves, for reasons beyond his understanding, just liked the feel of it rather than the wool and down filled mattresses Asgardians preferred.

\------------------------------------------------------------

When morning dawned, Loki was called back to the throne room to be told that the terms were acceptable and introduced to the craftsmen he would be taking back with him. Loki returned with them, leaving them on the Bifröst while he went on to Asgard proper to inform Odin that he'd done what had been asked of him. He'd barely appeared in the main hallway however when strong arms grabbed his arms and pinned them behind his back. Manacles were slapped onto his wrists, restraining him and his magic. He struggled ineffectually against the stronger guards. "What is this?! Release me!"

"You're not getting away with this one, _my Prince_." One of the guards sneered from behind him. "The Allfather will surely be rid of you for certain this time."

Loki's eyes blazed with magic he currently couldn't release and silently swore that once he found out what was going on and he was free again that he would find that guard and kill him slowly for speaking to him like that. For the time being however, he held his tongue and allowed himself to be escorted into the throne room where just as when he'd been brought for judgement two years before, the entire court seemed to be in attendance. Frigga stood to Odin's right beside the throne and Thor stood to the left. All three looked at him with sadness and betrayal in their expressions and Loki felt a flash of panic. Even though he could have sworn he'd hidden himself, Heimdall must have seen what he'd done on Midgard before continuing on to Nidavellir. But he hadn't really hurt anyone, certainly not killed. Why did that guard believe he would be banished?

He looked around for the Gatekeeper, but before he could get a good look around he was forced to kneel. He hissed softly in pain when his knees hit the floor and decided that _both_ of the guards were going to die for daring to manhandle him.

"Loki." Odin's voice was drawn with emotional agony. "Two years whence I overlooked your transgressions against Asgard and Jötunheim at Thor's behest, but now I see that doing so was a grave error. Your jealous actions cannot be overlooked this time." He stood, wavering slightly before steadying himself with Gungnir. "Therefore, you shall be stripped of your magic and sent to Svartalfheim henceforth."

"Father!" Loki cried out desperately. "Please! It was but a--"

"You are no longer my son!" The words were like a physical blow and Loki reeled, flinching back. Odin shut his eye in pain even as Thor himself winced much as Loki had and Frigga looked stricken. "This is my sentencing upon you." He moved to sit again, sagging down onto the throne as the guards who had been holding Loki in the kneel grabbed him under the arms to haul him back to his feet and drag him away.

"No! Wait! Thor!" Loki strained to try and catch the other's eye, struggling desperately. "I didn't hurt them! I meant no harm, truly! Brother, _please_!"

"Wait."

Thor's voice was quiet, but it was accompanied by thunder rolling just outside. The guards stopped and looked between each other, unsure.

Thor approached quickly and pushed them aside, then looked Loki in the eye, expression stern but desperate hope in his eyes. "....You don't know why you're being sent away." He decided after a few moments. He looked back at Odin. "Father, I don't think he knows." He looked back at Loki again. "The Chitauri came here, Loki."

Loki's already pale complexion became moreso and only Thor's hands gripping his arms kept him from falling as his legs gave out under him. "What....?" He whispered faintly, pupils dilating until his eyes appeared black.

Thor's face swam before his vision, and the next thing he knew he was on his knees again with his arms free, gulping air and beginning to quake as terror overtook his mind. They'd found him, just as the Other had promised they would if he failed.

Thor knelt beside the younger and put a hand on his back, looking back at Odin. "Father. He knew not of this. I beg of you to recant your denouncement of him!"

"Yes. I was hasty." Odin sounded exhausted, but relieved. "Loki is my son as before." He looked around at the court and then forced himself to rise to his feet. "Thor. Bring your brother." He turned briefly to his wife, covering her hand with his own and then turned away, forcing strength back into his body as he descended the throne.

Thor looked at Odin in puzzlement, but he moved to stand, pulling Loki to his feet when he seemed unable to respond and half dragging the other, he followed the Allfather.

By the time they reached their destination, the Vault, Loki was able to walk on his own. When he entered beside Thor and found the entire room dripping with water however, he stopped short. "....What happened?"

Odin looked back at him and smiled faintly. "It would seem that one of the Chitauri touched the Casket of Ancient Winters and opened it." His amusement faded and he turned away once more. "They still got what it seems they came here for, however."

"What did they take?" Loki moved to follow, splashing into the ankle deep water after Odin.

"The Infinity Gauntlet." Thor answered before Odin could, walking a step behind Loki. He put a hand on the other's shoulder. "Brother....I am so sorry I assumed you had let them in."

Loki shoved his hand off and turned on him, suddenly angry. "I wasn't even here!" He spat. "I was in Nidavellir arranging for craftsmen to fix the Bridge! The Chitauri might have _followed_ me here, but I didn't _bring_ them!"

"I deserve your anger." Thor said sadly.

Odin cleared his throat and they both looked at him. "Thor." Odin spoke. "Await outside. I would speak with Loki alone."

"Father..." Thor spoke softly, stepping closer to Loki instead. "Whatever you need to say to Loki, say it before me as well. He is my brother."

"Yes, he is." Odin agreed. "But none the less I will speak to him alone. Abide outside, Thor. I will return Loki to you intact." He seemed faintly amused, but also sad.

Reluctantly, Thor stepped back. "I will be just outside, Loki." He assured the other.

"I don't need your protection!" Loki snapped. "Be you gone!"

Thor nodded to him and retreated like a kicked dog. Loki sighed heavily and turned back to Odin, forcing himself to approach the man who had denounced him as son and only recanted upon Thor's begging.

"Loki..." Odin began.

"You are so eager to lay blame upon me that you don't even allow me to speak in my own defense!" Loki snapped, interrupting him. "If not for Thor hearing my words, you would have sent me off to the _tender_ ministrations of the Dark Elves to be nothing more than a slave!" He swept his arm out wide, eyes snapping with magic. "Is my worth so little to you that you would banish me to the Dökkálfar?! I cannot be used to ally with the Jötun, so you seek a reason to be at last rid of me!"

Odin waited out Loki's tirade and then put his hands solidly on the other's shoulders. "I have gravely erred, Loki." He spoke seriously. "In my rash assumptions, I did you great harm and for that I cannot express with words the depth of my regret. You are my son, as you always should be my son." He sighed heavily. "I must abdicate soon, Loki. I am too old, too....tired. If Thor is not ready, then you must guide him. Still your misgivings, do what is best for Asgard, for your brother. Your place is to be sensible when he is not, as he must in turn do for you."

"Again in the beloved's shadow." Loki uttered bitterly. "Is this ever to be my fate?"

"Midgard's moon is not less for receiving the reflected light of the sun, Loki."

Loki's lip curled in disgust and he drew back from Odin's hands. "You compare me to the _moon_ now? A place more dead than even Niffleheim? To reflect poorly the radiance of Thor, your _true_ son?"

"Must you always twist my words so?" Odin asked wearily.

Loki didn't answer, stepping around Odin to the Casket and put his hand upon the top of it, letting its chill fill him, even though doing so exposed his Jötun heritage and froze the water around his ankles. "Sif does not give Thor an heir." He spoke softly, prior anger seemingly gone. "Sigyn gave me none, and Angrboða...." His fingers curled on the Casket. "With her only a monster wolf and a woman obsessed with souls. Still, I wonder. If somehow I could produce a worthy child. Not a monster, not one with Jötun in them. A warrior. Would that child be worthy after Thor, or is my bloodline forever cursed to the shadows and the cold?"

"....It is early yet to speak of such matters." Odin responded slowly. "Thor is not yet King and has no current need of an heir."

"But I am in need of answers." Loki turned back to Odin, crimson eyes staring at him as the cold leeched away again and he regained his Asgardian appearance, ice broken around his feet. "Am I as the adopted son always banished to the shadows, and those of my blood who come after me? Not a one of my children save Sleipnir has even been worthy of any consideration!"

"Hela is Queen of her own realm." Odin pointed out. "Fenrir will not cease in his hunger, and until that can be controlled, yes he must be banished, but Jörmungandr holds Midgard in his protection. No, none of them could rule Asgard, but that does not make their existence frivolous."

"Jörmungandr was a child's toy!" Loki snapped, half turning away.

"Whom you breathed life into." Odin stepped forward to put a hand on Loki's shoulder. "You are not banished to the shadows, Loki. It is an unfortunate fact of Asgard that those of magic are not considered as strong or important as warriors, and your trickster manner has not helped you to gain any favor, but that does not make you unworthy in my eyes. This is not my choice alone however, and the people would rather have Thor. That is why you must stand at your brother's side, to guide him in the ways of which you are uniquely adept."

Loki sighed heavily, but in Odin's words he saw a chance. If he was intended to be standing at Thor's side and give council, then he could perhaps influence the other, guide him in the direction he wanted. Thor would be the puppet King, and he the true ruler. Thinking of this, Loki nodded in seeming agreement.

"As you say, Allfather." He intoned softly. He turned away and reached out for the Casket again. When his fingers touched it, it vanished.

"Loki..." Odin spoke warningly.

"They took the Infinity Gauntlet, you said." Loki kept his back to Odin as he spoke. "I was also promised pain beyond pain if I failed them, which I did. I need a means of defending myself. My magic may not work, but the Casket apparently will." He looked back at Odin and smiled. "Don't worry. I won't use it against those of Asgard." Except maybe the guards who had dared to manhandle him.

He turned to Odin and bowed. "I brought the Dvergr craftsmen and they've begun work on the Bridge. They'll need accommodations, of course. The price was ore dug from beneath Fenrir's paws and the retrieval of King Eitri's youngest son from his death, both of which I shall undertake personally unless otherwise engaged. Good day to you, Allfather." Loki moved to step past Odin.

"Loki." Odin intoned softly, and the younger paused. Odin sighed heavily. "Your anger is valid, but I hope that in time you can forgive me."

"......In time, perhaps." Loki continued on, shaking his feet once he had ascended the steps and then pushing a door open to join Thor outside. They walked in silence for a bit, Loki apparently setting the destination, of which he had none, so they simply wandered.

"Loki...?" Thor ventured after a few minutes, his voice soft and tentative. Loki froze mid-step, thrown off by the tone before he remembered that he was supposed to be angry at the other. He sighed heavily and turned his head to look at Thor, who had been walking a step or two behind him the entire time without Loki having noticed. "I suppose it was a logical assumption to make." He said grudgingly after a few moments. "I was their ally for a time, after all."

"Yet you are no longer?" Thor ventured, seeming mildly surprised by this.

"No. They would have me dead because of you and your damnable human friends." Loki looked away and bared his teeth at the air, remembering all too acutely the Hulk singlehandedly taking all the fight out of him.

"Brother...." Thor reached out to put a hand on Loki's shoulder, pulling him to a stop. "Did they force you to cause the invasion?"

Loki turned, slapping Thor's hand away. "Don't try to excuse my actions, Thor." He growled. "What I did--" He broke off and turned away again instead. ".....I take it no one has any idea how the Chitauri got in?"

"I...." Thor looked sad for a few moments more before he shook himself out and regained the warrior demeanor he was more known for. "No. We don't have the slightest clue."

"Then we'll have to find out, won't we?"

"Loki?"

Loki turned back to him and reached out to grasp the others arm. A blink and then they were standing on the Rainbow Bridge. The Dwarves working nearby all started in surprise and glowered briefly before returning to their work and pointedly ignoring the two Asgardians. Loki ignored them in turn, though he stepped carefully among them so as to try not to disturb their work until he reached the jagged break to look down.

Thor slowly followed and looked over Loki's shoulder. "The hole created by the Bifröst is long gone, brother."

Loki closed his eyes. ".....Hold on to me, Thor. I've never attempted to project myself this far before."

"Brother....?" Thor didn't understand, but he hooked his fingers into the back of Loki's clothes all the same and then watched as an astral projection, half-transparent, tumbled forward off the Bridge into space until it had all but vanished from sight. Loki was gritting his teeth and sweating with the effort of stretching his senses that far through the projection.

"There's something there." His voice sounded faint in his own ears. "It feels unstable." He raised his arms slightly, thin sparks of magic dancing around his fingers. "The magic still lingers...and there's--" He jerked and Thor thought he saw something flash down below.

"Loki!" He cried in concern, pulling the younger back to look at his face, which was pinched, all color leeched out of it.

Loki jerked again, his eyes snapping open and he stumbled back into Thor, who had to brace himself to keep from falling over a Dwarf. Once they steadied, he just put his arms around Loki while the younger twitched and shuddered, still looking deathly pale.

"Loki, what happened?"

"It's unstable, definitely unstable." Loki intoned softly. "They must have found the tear, found a way to widen it to let some through. But it snapped closed again, it doesn't stay open." His eyes stared straight ahead without focusing, pupils dilated. "They must have a way to open it."

"Mm." Thor frowned, and then scooped up the younger to bodily carry him. Loki didn't at first seem aware of what Thor was doing, but then his pupils contracted and he came out of his daze.

"Put me down, you lummox."

"You are not well." Thor responded, stubbornly continuing to walk back along the Bridge toward Asgard.

"I will not be carted about like a helpless maiden!" Loki hit Thor in the chest with the side of his fist, but it was a weak blow and through his armor Thor didn't even notice. Loki sulked for a few moments. ".....Couldn't you at least use Mjölnir to get us there faster?"

"I don't wish to jostle you."

Loki let his head fall back, rolling his eyes at Thor's stupidity and drew his magic together to teleport them both to the hallway outside their rooms. He then took advantage of Thor's surprise to wiggle free of the older's arms, only for his legs to give out under him as soon as his feet touched the floor.

Thor grabbed him before he completely faceplanted and pulled him up again. "I told you, you're not well!" He snapped, worried for him.

"I just used up my magic, you idiot." Loki pushed away and Thor warily let him stumble to his own door to open it and head inside. Before Loki could close it again behind him though, Thor followed him in and then paused to look around the room, as he hadn't gotten a good look when he'd come in before.

"You have a lot of books." He commented.

Loki gave him a look before stumbling over to his bed and flopping facedown into it. "If you break or damage anything, I'll carve it out of your hide." He mumbled into his pillow.

Thor laughed, apparently not taking the threat seriously. He sobered again after a few moments however. "Do you need a healer?"

"I need food." Loki responded, not lifting his head. "My magic will restore quicker once I've eaten."

He heard Thor open his door and bellow down the hallway for food to be brought for himself and Loki, then the door was closed again and Thor fell quiet. Loki fell asleep for a time and didn't rouse again until he felt a hand upon his back.

"Do you think you can sit up, brother?" Thor asked when Loki opened his eyes to look at him.

Loki childishly buried his face in his pillow and grunted, then moved to sit up, stretching a bit as he did so. He then he looked at Thor, who was holding a plate and looked like he was ready to basically spoon feed the younger. Loki gave his very best withering glare and watched Thor's enthusiasm fade.

"I'm not an invalid." He spat, moving to get off his bed. He wobbled a bit when he stood, but stubbornly made his way over to the small table where Thor had set the food brought for himself. Thor followed and set Loki's food down in front of him.

"I was merely trying to be helpful, brother." Thor stated almost defensively.

"You would get crumbs in my bed." Loki responded, picking up a piece of bread to break in half. They lapsed into silence save for the sounds of chewing, but almost soon as Loki quaffed back his wine, he realized something was wrong.

"Thor..." He looked to the older. "Have you drank the wine yet?"

Thor lifted his head from stuffing a boar haunch into his face and hastily swallowed. "Yes. It's rather tart, isn't it?"

"Tart. Yes." Loki moved to stand and Thor frowned slightly at him.

"Loki?"

Loki didn't answer as searing pain abruptly exploded through his body and he collapsed to his elbows and knees, fists clenching and back curling. He faintly heard things fall, faintly heard Thor calling to him, but the loudest sound was the roaring in his ears. He'd been poisoned with something brutal, and though he was nearly insensible with pain, he tried to do the only thing he felt would save him and tried to change form to something the poison hopefully wouldn't affect.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Loki jerked awake, eyes flashing open and then staring uncomprehendingly at what was in front of him for several moments before he realized it was an arm. He lifted his head, whiskers fanning forward and ears perking to look at Thor, who was lying on Loki's bed with Loki tucked in the crook of his arm.

Loki looked down at himself and flexed his pink padded paws, pleased to see that his attempt to shift form had been successful. He stood up carefully and stretched before he very decidedly launched himself onto Thor's stomach, bouncing off again when the older woke with a start and seating himself at the foot of the bed, tail tucked around himself and a very smug look on his black cat face.

"Loki!" Thor sat up and made a grab for him, which Loki allowed. He brought the feline-formed Trickster close to his face. "I am glad you are alright."

Loki brought up his front paws to plant firmly on Thor's face and he flexed his claws, curling his body up so his back paws were planted on Thor's collarbone. "Put me down."

Thor chuckled and set Loki down, though he purposely ruffled Loki's fur, gaining a rather disgruntled sound out of the younger. "Are you well now, brother? I considered taking you to the healers, but you seemed become better once you had taken this form."

Loki fussily straightened his fur without answering, and then once he was through he hopped off the bed and reached for his normal form, shifting back easily and stretching, leaning his head back.

"Yes. I feel fine now." He turned to look at Thor, and then frowned when he realized the other was staring at him. "What?"

"Brother...." Thor spoke slowly, moving to get off the bed on the opposite side and work his way around. "You are looking....rather....blue."

"....What?" Loki looked down at his hands, shocked to see Jötun skin. He spun away from Thor and stalked to his mirror to stare in dawning horror at his appearance. "No..." He looked at his hands again, trying to will them to change. His skin seemed to ripple briefly, but then sharply reasserted itself and Loki's hands slowly curled into fists as he lowered his head.

"....Brother?" Thor hung back, uncertain of what to do.

".....This was a very specific poison, Thor." Loki spoke softly. "Stripping away my Asgardian skin. This was designed entirely for me."

"I should get a healer."

Loki barked a harsh laugh, stepping away from the mirror. "Do you _honestly_ believe they would help me, even if they could? _Really_?!" He began to pace, keeping his distance from Thor and not looking at him. "While I can imagine there are quite a few who would make this kind of bother, there are only three who could at this moment; Skaði, Amora and Karnilla."

Thor furrowed his brow. "But why?"

Loki gave him a look, crimson eyes bright with his anger. "Think about it, if you're capable." He turned away with a snarl. "The Allfather told the entire court what I am, did he not? Who would abide a Jötun?"

"Some do not like you Loki, but this is not true for all of Asgard."

"Oh, is this so?" Loki sneered, coming abreast of the table Thor had knocked over and staring down at it. "You have become a Seer now, Thor? To peek into the minds of others and read their thoughts?"

"There is no need for your mockery, brother."

Loki ignored him, crouching to pick up the tipped wine jug and giving it a shake, nodding slightly when he heard liquid still sloshing inside. ".....I was wrong. There is one other of magic on Asgard. Dear Frigga."

Thor looked shocked. "Our Mother would not do this!"

"Your mother." Loki responded with an absent tone. He turned to Thor and strode over to him quickly, thrusting the jug at him. "Take this to her. If there is a way to reverse this, I will entrust it to her knowledge."

Thor took the jug, looking at Loki in concern as the other turned and walked away from him. "I'll hurry." He promised and turned to go, fury slowly building in his own mind that someone would dare to attempt harm upon the one he thought of as his brother.

"Be careful with it!" Loki called back and shut his eyes when he heard the door open and shut. He stood still for several moments before he turned back to the table and all that had been spilled off of it to see if he could work his own magics on the wine and untangle what he guessed was a mix of spell and herbology.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know that 'Aesir' is not actually a gender. It's explained in the next chapter.


	5. Family Bonds

Loki threw the goblet at the wall and screamed out his frustration. His magic had apparently been stripped from him along with his Asgardian appearance, and save the abilities natural to a Jötun--that of ice--he could summon no magic at all. He was certain that this had been done to him by either Karnilla--wife of Thor's vain younger sibling Balder--or Amora, the brilliant but twisted Enchantress who had once dared to presume she was worthy to be Loki's student, and lover.

He sank to his knees and brought his hands up to grip his hair, making sounds of distress even though in his Jötun state he wasn't capable of actually shedding tears. If this couldn't be undone, then he would have to leave Asgard forever.

But where would he go? Jötunheim? Such a joke. They would take one look at his runted self and kill him, or worse, keep him around as something to poke and toy with. No. There was no where in the Nine Realms where he could go, not even to Midgard. Thor watched that world too closely, and then he would only be dragged back again anyway. Besides, his magic was gone. His only way off of Asgard now was once the Bifröst was completed, and then it would be guarded by Heimdall who would certainly not let him anywhere near the chamber.

A knock at the door startled him and he quickly rose to his feet, a frost dagger forming in his hand. "Who?!"

"Loki?" It was Thor's voice and Loki marginally relaxed. He moved closer to the door, holding his hand with the dagger behind his back.

"Yes Thor, enter." Loki warily watched the door open, then quickly reabsorbed the ice when he saw that Frigga was with the older and he hastily turned away.

"Loki." He heard her approach him and felt her hand on his arm. "Loki, look at me."

".....I didn't want you to see me like this." Loki replied softly, but slowly he turned around to face her. She looked up into his face, meeting his eyes and then reached up toward his face. Loki drew away quickly. "Don't."

Frigga smiled sadly and nodded slightly, lowering her arms and placing a hand over his heart instead. "Will you let me in, Loki?"

Loki blinked. "Of course, Mother." He shut his eyes, dropping the outer mental barriers a magic user naturally built up to protect themselves, though he kept up the ones around his thoughts. He felt her enter into his inner self, her magic a gentle light as she poked around. He didn't know what she expected to find, but he definitely knew when she found it.

"Oh." Frigga exhaled in surprise. "This may hurt, my dear." The gentle light abruptly became far less gentle, searing him from the inside out and Loki screamed. He became aware of being on his knees--he found he was ending up in this position a lot lately--and having some kind of foul liquid forced down his throat. He sputtered and coughed, and then the next thing he knew he was on his back on the floor with his head on Frigga's lap and Thor sitting beside him, looking down at him in concern.

"Mother...?" Loki asked weakly.

"I've done what I could to burn out the poison, my son." Frigga answered him, stroking his hair in light motions. "The rest you will have to do on your own."

Loki shakily brought a hand up to look at it, and then turned his face aside in despair. "I still look like a Jötun."

"You should recover as the rest of the poison is expelled." She leaned down to kiss his forehead, evidently not bothered at all by the coldness of his skin, though he flinched at the heat of hers. "Be patient, Loki. You've done very well."

Loki just shut his eyes, too weak to sit up but not wanting to see the pity in their eyes. He dozed for a bit and barely noticed when Frigga shifted out from under his head to stand up. It wasn't until he felt arms lifting him that he stirred and opened his eyes to look at Thor.

"You have not had a very good day, have you, brother?" Thor remarked. "Rest. I will stay on guard."

Still weakened by Frigga's efforts to burn out the poison, Loki didn't have the energy to argue and when he was set onto his bed, he fell asleep immediately.

\------------------------------------------------------------

When Loki awoke again, he found the curtains had been drawn around his bed and he sat up slowly, reaching out to part the curtain slightly and peer out. He saw Thor standing by the now upright table, overseeing the work of some servants as they cleaned up the spilled food and drink. One glanced his way and he quickly let the curtain drop again, then held that hand before his face and flexed his fingers. His skin was still blue, his appearance still Jötun. Was Frigga right and he only had to wait, or had the poison done its work and he was stuck this way?

He drew his legs up to his chest and hugged them, resting his chin on his knees and staring straight ahead. He hated this feeling of insecurity, hated being out of control. He let his mind drift and his memories, oddly enough, traveled back to centuries before when Thor, Balder and their friends had wanted to play 'Asgard and Jötuns' and had made Loki be the Jötuns because, they'd told him, he could make copies. They'd been children then, and it had seemed like innocent fun. Loki had even enjoyed himself, taunting his siblings and their friends with his false selves. Odin had been inordinately furious when he'd found out about the game, and it was only in retrospect that Loki understood why.

Loki sighed softly and buried his face in his knees. It had taken him so very long to figure out what an object of scorn and ridicule he was. Sorcery was thought of as a women's craft, and men who had the ability were mocked in a society designed for warriors. Perhaps if Loki had been stronger, if he could have become a warrior to supplement his magic, he could have gotten respect. But no, that was not to be. Throwing knives were his weapons, and magic and words his only crafts. It didn't matter that his magic potential rivaled that of Karnilla, the mighty Queen of Nornheim, because he was _male_.

If he'd been raised on Vanaheim when the Vanir were still separate from the Aesir, before 'Vanir' had become synonymous with 'female' as 'Aesir' had come to mean simply 'male', maybe he would have fared better. Trolls and Skraelings occupied that land now, and it had degenerated into a pitiless jungle. Ah, how far from the glory days the Nine Realms were.

He lifted his head when he heard his door open and shut and he slowly unfurled to peek out again to find Thor seated at the table. The older looked pensive, staring down at the table as if he could somehow make it give him whatever answers he sought. Loki watched him for a few moments, and then moved to get out of bed.

Thor looked up and half rose to his feet before sitting back down again. "Brother, how do you feel? Did the servants awaken you?"

"Stop clucking about like a brooding hen." Loki snapped sourly. He went to his mirror and leaned forward, curling his lip at his own appearance while trying to convince himself he wasn't as deep a blue as he'd been earlier. "I feel better." He straightened up and called to his magic, pleased when he felt it begin to well up within him. "My magic is returning."

Thor breathed a sigh of relief. "This is good."

"Yes, so you may leave now. I no longer have need of your hovering."

Thor frowned. "I have not been hovering, brother. I have been worried for you, and rightly so."

Loki turned to pace to the far end of his room, away from Thor. "And now I am awake and recovering, so I have no more need of your presence. Leave."

Thor furrowed his brow and moved to stand. "Why are you so eager to be rid of me, suddenly? Have we not been getting along well?"

"When this day began, I was disowned and nearly sent to the Dark Elves."

"I did not disown you, and Father recanted his denouncement."

"At _your_ behest!" Loki clenched a fist, staring at the wall. "I have played at the obedient son, doing what was asked of me, only to be repayed with betrayal in turn. Yet ever the wonder at the bitter prince, who has all that he could want except what actually deserves to be his! Not even the sun to be within my reach, only the cold and banished moon."

"Loki..." Thor approached slowly, looking confused. "What happened while you and Father were speaking earlier?"

"Words." Loki spat. "Hollow words, meaning nothing beside actions. Proclamations of love, but motions of betrayal!" Ice formed in his hand and he flung it at the wall, where it shattered. "Both born to be kings? Oh indeed! King of the Jötun, perhaps! More a jester to be--"

"Loki!" Thor planted his hands on the younger's shoulders, making him jump. "Calm thyself, brother. I know you are worried your current state may be permanent, but there is no need for such outbursts."

Loki lowered his head and laughed bitterly. "Such a reversal of roles when _you_ are being the calm one." He paused briefly. "I thought I told you to leave."

"You did," Thor agreed. "I chose not to listen."

"Well, that's more typical at least." Loki moved away from Thor's hands and stepped right up to the wall, leaning close to it and exhaling to make frost. "Why won't you leave, Thor?"

Thor looked puzzled. "You are still recovering your strength, brother. I wish to make sure no one takes advantage of that."

"I could probably leave Asgard right now." Loki lifted a hand. "It would be hard, I admit, but I could probably do it now that my magic is returning."

"You were worried the Chitauri will find you." Thor pointed out. "Wherever you went, you would have depleted your magic again in getting there."

"Why do you care?"

"Why should I not?"

"Why _should_ you?!" Loki spun to face Thor, crimson eyes boring into the other's. "I tried to kill you! Dropped you from the helicarrier!"

"Yes," Thor responded calmly. "but I escaped the cage before it struck the ground."

Loki's voice rose. "I _did_ kill you with the Destroyer!"

"And Mjölnir revived me."

"Why do you still care?!" Loki was nearly screaming.

"Because you are _my brother_!" Thor strode over to him, hand coming up to cup the back of Loki's head and pull him so that their foreheads touched, ignoring the chill of Loki's skin as well as the hiss Loki let out at the contact. "No matter what form you take, what action you take against me, you are my brother."

Loki shut his eyes, trembling and didn't resist when Thor pulled him into a hug, even though the heat of the older's body was painful to him. He brought up his hands after a few moments to grip Thor's clothes.

"By the Nine, you give off so much heat." He whispered.

Thor chuckled. "And you are cold." He responded. "It is a funny thing. You are usually so full of passions, but now you are chilly."

Loki opened his eyes, drawing back to gave him a look." ......You're an idiot."

Thor laughed and let go of Loki to ruffle his hair. "Then you must be my mind, yes?"

"Thor!" Loki ducked away and straightened his hair out again, looking at the older queerly for several moments before he sighed heavily and straightened up.

"You really don't care." He sounded almost wondering. "This really means nothing to you."

Thor shook his head, smiling. "I told you. You are my brother."

"Even though I'm Jötun."

"I have known what you were for several years now, Loki."

"But now you've _seen_ it!" Loki spread out his arms. "You've seen the monster beneath the Asgardian shape!"

Thor's smile faded. "You are not a monster, Loki."

"Oh, well _that's_ \--" Loki began when there was a solid pounding on the door and both he and Thor jumped. Before either had a chance to call out for the identity of the knocker, the door opened and Sif with the Warriors Three strode in.

"Ah, Thor." Volstagg began before he noticed who was standing beside the Thunder God and he and the others immediately stopped short, pulling out their weapons.

Loki grimaced and began to turn away, but then he stopped and instead turned fully to face them. "How nice of you to come, _my friends_ ," He snarled, spreading his arms out. "Behold the Jötun who Thor calls brother. Take a _good_ look."

Fandral furrowed his brow and lowered his sword. ".....Loki?"

"Yes. Loki." Thor stepped over to the younger and put a hand on his shoulder. "I was here when this happened to him. You heard about the poison?"

"Yes." Sif placed one end of her two-headed spear on the floor. "We also heard you had stayed in attendance, so--"

"You came to make sure I hadn't killed him?" Loki interrupted her. "How _considerate_ of you, sister through marriage." He turned away, pushing Thor's hand off. "I will bathe. I feel dirty suddenly." He stalked to his bathing room and shut the door.

Thor sighed softly. "Forgive him, my friends. He is understandably rather out of sorts at the moment."

"Indeed." Fandral sheathed his sword and shuddered while Hogun closed the door. "Poor bastard. He's not stuck like that, is he?"

"Our Mother thinks not."

"Oh, good." Fandral shuddered again.

"Is it?" Sif asked softly. She frowned. "This seems to be a showing of his true colors."

"Have a care, Sif!" Thor snapped. "You are my beloved, but I will not tolerate you speaking of Loki in such a manner!"

Sif strode forward while the warriors exchanged uncomfortable looks and she jabbed Thor in the chest with a finger.

"You are too trusting, Thor. Not so very long ago he let Jötun into Asgard, and then he made war upon Midgard. He would have you dead, and you would let him! You are not even wearing your armor!"

"I hear your concern, Sif." Thor said tightly. "But I know my brother. He is hurt. Finding out he was a Frost Giant opened a great wound that has not yet healed. We must support him, not strive to cast him out!"

"He is a _Jötun_!"

"Which he has always been! All that has changed now is the knowledge of this fact."

"He has a point, Sif." Fandral spoke up.

Sif looked back, fixing him with a glare and then looked back at Thor. "We will speak later, Thor." She turned sharply away and made for the door, all but yanking it open to stalk out. The Warriors Three looked at each other, and then turned to follow.

"My friends?" Thor asked quietly.

They stopped to look back and Fandral offered an awkward smile. "This is an unfortunate situation for everyone, it seems." He said. "But rest assured, Thor. The Warriors Three still stand by you." He turned to the other two. "Don't we, lads?"

"Uh....of course we do!" Volstagg said quickly. Hogun gave a single, terse nod. The robust warrior put hands on his midsection. "It is just as Fandral says; an unfortunate situation."

"We will go and let Loki recover in peace." Hogun spoke up, turning back to the door. Fandral and Volstagg offered tense smiles to Thor and hastily followed, the door shutting behind them.

Thor sighed heavily, but he supposed he couldn't blame them for being uncomfortable. Loki wasn't _their_ brother, after all.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Night had fallen again before Loki's appearance finally returned to normal. Thor had steadfastly refused to leave, but Loki didn't seem to mind his company anymore and they'd spent most of their time in silence, though Thor got restless quickly and had ended up pacing outside on Loki's balcony, idly swinging Mjölnir.

"Brother." Loki called from inside, immediately getting Thor's attention. He hurried quickly to the doorway to look inside.

"Yes?"

Loki was looking down at his hand, examining the pale skin and dark nails from where he sat at his table. "A thought has occurred to me, and in reward for your steadfast loyalty to me, I would share it."

Thor stepped over, putting Mjölnir back on his belt. "What is it?"

In response, Loki spread out some papers he had on the table. Looking down at them, Thor saw that they were crude drawings and notes about the Infinity Gauntlet. "You drew these when you were a child." He remembered.

"It fascinated me at the time. I kept sneaking into the Vault to look at it." Loki smiled bitterly, then straightened up to look at the older.

"There were three gems missing from the gauntlet. The Mind gem, the Power gem and the Time gem. At least one of these gems is on Earth, and so that is where the Chitauri are likely to go." Loki watched Thor pale, and he nodded seriously. "Indeed, Thor. You would want to warn your friends, would you not?"

"Yes, but..." Thor frowned slightly, looking puzzled. "Why would _you_ wish to?"

Loki's lip quirked up in a smile. "Because the Avengers stopped the Chitauri before, so perhaps they can do so a second time. That aside, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the human saying goes."

Thor nodded slightly. "Do you know where the other two gems might be?"

"No." Loki pulled over new paper to begin copying his notes of the Infinity Gauntlet onto them. "But they may sing their locations to the holder of the Gauntlet. What will you choose to do, Thor? You may defend your precious Earth, but without the Bifröst, Heimdall can't call you back if the Chitauri attack any of the other realms."

Thor shifted uncomfortably. "I am not the only warrior...."

"But you are the only one who has me to take you to where you must be." Loki paused. "Well, perhaps not. There is Skaði as well, I suppose." He smiled coldly. "They're likely to hunt the Tesseract too, come to think of it..."

"Then Skaði should be warned!"

"Do as you like. My concern is only for the Tesseract."

"Loki!" Thor appeared shocked. "She was your teacher for many years!"

"And then became my jailer." Loki began drawing the Infinity Gauntlet in the middle of the page, a far more detailed depiction than his childhood attempt was. "But I am not stopping you. Go tell her if you like."

Thor hesitated, but then he nodded and moved to leave. Loki magically locked the door behind him so no one could come barging in on him and continued copying his childhood notes.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Thor did not attempt to return that night, though Loki heard quite the argument break out in the direction of Thor's room later on. The next day when Loki ventured out to break his fast, he looked over in that direction and wondered if Sif had made her husband sleep on the floor. Chuckling softly to himself at the visual, he walked into the dining hall to find Thor voraciously tearing into a boar lying on a plate in front of him. Volstagg and Fandral were also in attendance, though they were both actually eating less enthusiastically.

"Did that pig offend you in some way?" Loki asked, fixing his eyes on Thor and ignoring the other two as he walked over.

"Loki!" Thor waved a haunch at him, hoof still attached. "Come join us!"

Loki sighed heavily and stepped over to sit down, leaving plenty of space between himself and Thor so he wouldn't get food splattered on him if the older got too enthusiastic. "You're in a good mood."

"He apparently spent a very energetic night apologizing to Sif." Fandral spoke up with a grin that told Loki all he needed to know about how the apology likely took place and what it entailed. Loki rolled his eyes and just pulled some food over to begin eating it, though he was glad that things were apparently well now, for Thor could be a pitiful sight indeed when he was sad.

"Brother." Loki spoke up after a while. "Have you spoken to the Allfather concerning what we discussed last night?"

"Mmf." Thor chugged some mead and wiped his mouth. "Not yet. I wanted to have you at my side when I brought it up."

"What's this then?" Fandral asked.

Thor turned to look at him. "Loki believes that the Chitauri may attack Midgard next, in search of the missing gems for the Infinity Gauntlet. I must speak with Father and get permission to give aid in event of such an attack."

"And you would not invite us along?" Volstagg feigned insult.

"No, my friend." Thor replied seriously. "The Chitauri may also return to Asgard, and if that should happen I would rather have you here to defend it."

The two warriors looked at Loki, who returned their glances with a glare.

"I haven't done anything wrong since my return, and yet still I am looked at in suspicion." He growled.

"....Well, I mean....are you well?" Fandral spoke up quickly. "You were looking a little....out of sorts last night."

Loki exhaled gustily, and then blinked when he found that frost had formed on his food. "......Perhaps your concern is valid." He slid down the bench closer to Thor, who gave him a puzzled look, then lifted his hand quickly to place on Thor's cheek.

"Ah!" Thor jerked away in surprise. "You're cold, brother!"

Both Fandral and Volstagg started laughing, though Volstagg quickly started coughing instead and Fandral went over to thump his back.

"Hm." Loki looked at his hand, which appeared perfectly normal. "It seems some poison yet lingers..." He slid back to where he was sitting to resume eating, trying not to look too disturbed at this. He pushed away his plate again soon after however, finding that his appetite had died.

"Come get me when you're ready to speak to the Allfather, Thor." He said, moving to stand. "I will be in my room." He swept out, feeling increasingly ill. It was one thing when the cold was at his beck and call, but the idea of not being able to control his own body absolutely terrified him.

\------------------------------------------------------------

A couple of hours later, Thor knocked on Loki's door, looking like he'd scrubbed--or been scrubbed--close to raw. The two walked together toward the throne room, dressed in their finest. They both received their respective share of stares, the residents of Asgard surprised perhaps to see the two Princes as a unified force, or perhaps more curious why they were dressed like they were attending a coronation.

Entering the throne room, Loki sped his pace to approach first and knelt before the throne, Thor coming to kneel beside him. Odin looked down at the youngest and oldest with surprise. "And what is this, that you come before me so?" He queried.

Loki lifted his head, the horns of his golden helmet catching the light briefly. "Allfather. May we three speak in privacy? It is a delicate matter which we have come to discuss."

"Thor?"

"It it as he says, Father." Thor confirmed, rising to his feet. "Please, it is important."

Odin furrowed his brow, then looked around at the servants and attendants before he rose to his feet. "Come then, my sons." He led them to the nearby war room and turned to face them. "Speak then, as to this matter."

"It concerns the Infinity Gauntlet." Loki spoke up. "One of the gems it was missing is on Midgard, and they now have the means to launch an assault there."

"Father," Thor filled in the silence almost as if he and Loki had rehearsed. "Please allow me to go forth and protect the Earth."

Odin frowned. "No, Thor. I require you to stay on Asgard until we are certain it is secure."

"Allfather." Loki started.

"No, Loki." Odin cut him off. "I have spoken and I will not be swayed." He seemed disappointed, and somewhat aggravated and made for the door. "You are both to remain on Asgard."

Loki arched a brow, wondering how Odin intended to enforce that when the collar hadn't been placed back around his neck and then reached out to touch his arm briefly. "Allfather." He spoke softly. "You would leave the mortals to protect her, who is dear to Thor?"

"If you speak of the mortal woman, I am certain the heroes of Midgard will do their jobs well enough." Odin replied.

Loki shook his head slightly, an odd smile on his lips. "I speak of the one who was once dear to you as well, Allfather." Odin looked at him sharply and Loki leaned forward slightly. "The things which I found during my six months of recovery were _most_ informative. So you would leave her to perhaps perish? She who gave you so much?"

Odin frowned and his eye narrowed. "You speak in riddles, Loki. I do not like it...but you will have your way this time." He turned away again. "Very well then. Protect Midgard, Thor. We will manage without you if we must." He strode out, movements angry and stiff.

Thor looked to Loki in confusion. "Brother. What was that regarding?"

Loki just smiled to Thor and steepled his fingers over his midsection. "As you have so strived to protect me, big brother, so I protect you. Perhaps I will tell you one day, but you have no need to know at the moment. Shall we go?"

Thor blinked. "Right this moment?"

"You have Mjölnir, and I have what I need. What more is there to do?"

"....Nothing, I suppose." Thor took off his winged helmet and set it on the large table in the middle of the room. Loki did the same with his horned one. "But where are we going?"

"To the only Avenger I know how to find." Loki put a hand on Thor's arm, and in a blink they vanished from Asgard.


	6. Avengers Assemble

Loki and Thor appeared on the outside terrace of Stark Tower. Tony, who had been flaked out on an armchair in a black and red bathrobe and was working his way through a beer bottle, did a spit take and hastily sat up, wiping his mouth.

"I swear. You Asgardians really need to call ahead or something." He got to his feet and fixed his eyes on Thor. "So what's up?"

Thor frowned slightly. "I believe I would rather speak with you on serious matters when you are not displaying so....openly."

"What?" Tony looked down to see that his robe was conspicuously open below the waist and he hastily pulled it closed, even though they'd already had a more than ample view of his assets. "Oh. Geez." He sighed heavily and turned away, gesturing with the beer bottle. "Come on in then while I get dressed." He glanced at Loki, and then continued inside with them following.

Loki looked around the space, as this was only his second time in it. He very quickly focused on an indent in the floor and strode over to it, then stared down at it with narrowing eyes.

"So," He spat acidly, glaring at the indent his body had made when the Hulk had finished whipping him around like a toy. "My humiliation at the hands of your pet beast wasn't enough, you had to have it _bronzed_."

"Err...." Tony swigged some of his beer, very decidedly inching out of the room. "First big victory for the Avengers. We were all very proud. 'Scuse me, I think my underwear is calling." He performed a tactical retreat while Loki just continued to glare at the glassed over and bronze-outlined imprint his body had once made in the floor.

"Brother," Thor spoke softly. "calm thyself."

"Oh, I'm calm." Loki responded, apparently trying to make the floor combust. "That wretched little mortal is still in one piece at the moment, after all."

"Brother." Thor stepped over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away and turning him to face him. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, you said. Be patient with my friends, I ask of you. They are only human, and far removed from the Norse lands. They do not understand. It is not their fault."

Loki sighed heavily, glancing down. "I am doing this for you, Thor. In return for your unwavering loyalty, I will help you defend this unworthy world." He looked back up at him, magic sparking in his eyes. "But mark me, brother. These humans are not _my_ allies, and they are not nearly so foolish or forgiving as you. They would sooner stab me in the back than fight at my side."

"Maybe so." Thor responded. "Your prickly manner would not be aiding in more amicable feelings, certainly."

Loki snorted and turned away. "I care little. As I said, I am doing this for you."

Thor smiled slightly. "Then for me, could you not try to be more diplomatic?"

Loki glared over at the indent in the floor. ".....We shall see."

"Alright. So." They turned to look over at Tony who had put on khakis and was pulling a shirt on, acting a lot more confident while he walked back in their direction. "What's with the drop in this time? Did Loki run to you to try and get the staff back?"

Thor frowned while Loki's eyes fixed on the mini-arc reactor and then the glow it made through Tony's Metallica shirt. "Nay. I have heard not of this matter." He glanced at Loki, then looked back at Tony. "The Chitauri attacked Asgard."

Tony blinked at him. "Well damn." He looked over at Loki, then stepped behind the bar to turn on the coffee machine. "And I don't suppose you had something to do with it?"

"For once, no. I did not." Loki crossed his arms.

"Uh huh." Tony glanced at the coffee maker. "So what went down then?"

"A relic was taken from the Vault." Loki uncrossed his arms and three papers appeared in his hand. He stepped over to Tony, holding them out to him. "A device that may prove somewhat....problematic for your world as well as Asgard."

"Yeah, okay. Look. I don't really like being handed things, so could you--"

"Stark," Loki interrupted, speaking through gritted teeth. "Take the papers before I shove them down your throat."

"Wow. You're testy today." Tony reached out to take the papers. "Or is this just how you always are?" He spread the papers out on the counter. "JARVIS. Scan and put it up on the holo display." He poured himself a cup of coffee while the scans were completed and popped up on a holographic display almost right in front of Loki, which made him start in surprise and step back. Thor himself also tensed when the images showed up out of no where.

"Oh. Yes, that's good. That's very good." Even though it was only electrons, Loki ducked under the display to come up on the other side of it. "Human innovation. How extraordinary."

"Glad you approve." Tony stepped over with his steaming mug of coffee and stood by Loki, even though being willingly close to him had to be a bit of a nerve wracking experience. "So what's this? Some kind of fancy glove?"

"It is called the Infinity Gauntlet." Loki glanced at Tony briefly, then looked back at the digital renditions of his drawings. "As it is, very powerful. But once all the gems are placed in it..." A small, ironic smile flickered over his lips briefly. "The wielder becomes such as a God themselves."

Tony blew on his coffee, acting completely unphased by this and took a sip. "Mm, hot." He coughed. "So the Chitauri have it now?"

"Indeed. Call the other Avengers so that they too can know of this."

"Mm, not yet." Tony took another small sip of his coffee. "Tell me more about this gauntlet thing."

Loki's expression became a mix of aggravated and amused. He brought up a hand to lightly touch his fingers to the hologram, which flickered. A green spark seemed to jump from his fingers onto the hologram, and then colors began to bloom across it, revealing the colors not only of the gauntlet but of the gems as well.

".........Wh--How are you doing that?" Tony frowned at him and actually brought up a hand to try and pull Loki's away. "This is _my_ system. How the _hell_ \--"

Loki turned his head and fixed Tony with a glare that froze him mid-motion. Once the desired effect was achieved, he looked away again. "Technology is but magic for the layman." He stated. "This is a simple matter for me." Once the colors had finished appearing, Loki stuck his hand into the hologram and then drew it out with the holographic gauntlet on his hand. Making quick gestures with his other hand, three of the gems flew off to affix themselves into the gauntlet.

"You're enjoying this way too much." Tony looked rather sour, but it was obvious that Loki had his full attention.

Loki turned to face him, holding up the hologram-gauntleted hand and pointed to each gem in turn. "These are the three gems that were most likely in the Infinity Gauntlet when it was taken." He pointed to the yellow gem,

"The Reality gem allows the user to fulfill wishes, regardless of whether it would adhere to the general universal laws. Physics do not have to come into play, in short." Next he pointed to the purple gem,

"The Space gem. This will allow the user of the Gauntlet to appear wherever they would desire in all of the cosmos. Presumably they can duplicate themselves this way, and also alter space itself. In theory, they could rearrange the orbit of the planets in this solar system, for instance, or even remove Earth from orbit entirely." He smiled slightly when Tony paled.

"Finally," He pointed to the green gem. "the Soul gem. This gem allows the user to steal, control, manipulate and alter souls, living or dead." Loki lowered his hand slightly. "And this, Stark, is only the three currently in the control of the Chitauri." He flicked his hand and the gems and Gauntlet all re-settled themselves back onto the hologram. "Now call the Avengers."

"Mm. Maybe in a few minutes."

Loki tilted his head, eyeing him. "....You're stalling. Why?"

"What? No no. I'm not stalling, I'm just--"

"Wasting my time." Loki spun, grabbing Tony by the neck and lifting him off the ground. "And I am tired of it."

"Loki!" Thor surged forward, but before he had a chance to act, Tony threw his coffee into Loki's face. Loki gave a yell of pain, and dropped Tony to cover his face with his hands. Thor quickly situated himself between them, though he looked at a loss for to what to do.

Loki lifted his head, eyes squinted and steam actually rising from his skin out of little pockmarks. He straightened up, looking like he had murder on his mind and magic began to gather in his hand.

Thor turned fully to face him, planting one hand on Loki's shoulder and the other pushing down the arm holding the gathering spell. "Peace, brother."

"Peace?" Loki's lip curled back. " _Peace_?! That little toad just threw a hot drink on me!" The magic vanished from his hand, however.

"I'm claiming self-defense." Tony protested from behind Thor. "Oh, and I'm not a toad."

Loki jerked back from Thor's grip and wiped his face, the superficial blemishes healing. He paced a few steps away, but then came back. He stalked past Thor and Tony to the counter where Tony had left the papers and picked them up to vanish them. "I am through having my time wasted in this manner. If you choose not to heed my warnings, then I will watch this world burn and I will _laugh_." He stalked to the terrace door and went outside.

"Well, that was enjoyable." Tony looked at the mess on the floor, then at his empty mug and sighed. Finally he looked at Thor, who was staring through the hologram to where his brother had gone. "So, why did you bring him along exactly?"

"I cannot travel to this world without aid." Thor answered, still looking off. "Loki has the means with which to travel forth to the other Realms at will, and he offered me aid. It would not speak well of me if I had rejected it."

"Mm...." Tony stepped away to return to the coffee maker and pour himself another cup. "So, is there anything else about that Infinity Gauntlet I should know?"

"It is likely." Thor looked over at Tony. "But I know not what it would be. Loki is the one who knows of such things. I have no knowledge of magical items."

"And he's about ready to chuck me out my own window again." Tony muttered. "This is a _great_ start to my day. Pepper's going to have an aneurysm."

Thor frowned in confusion. "An aneurysm?" He repeated. "I do not understand."

"It's a...." Tony made a face. "She's going to be seriously unhappy with me. Just....never mind." Mug filled again, he stepped back over to look at the images. "This is serious stuff, huh?"

"Verily." Thor looked down at the coffee Tony had, sniffing at it. "That smells very good, Tony Stark. May I have some?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Tony led him back over and got a mug for him before pouring him some coffee. He handed the mug over. "You ever had coffee before?"

"Oh yes." Thor brightened. "When I was banished to this world several years whence, I had the pleasure of partaking of it." He paused and then drooped slightly. "I made a bit of a fool of myself then....I wonder how she is....?"

Tony awkwardly patted his arm. "You should, uh, tell me about it some time." He glanced over at the holograms, then sighed heavily. "Is Loki telling the truth about the Infinity Gauntlet and the Chitauri?"

"As I said, I do not know much of the Infinity Gauntlet. But as for the Chitauri, Loki was not present on Asgard when they attacked."

"Uh huh. He was probably here harassing me, then."

Thor sipped his drink, making a face when he burned himself and looked to Tony with a frown. "So he did come here."

"Yeah. He wanted me to tell him where the staff was, and when I wouldn't, he tried to bribe me, and when I _still_ wouldn't, he tried to throttle me. Your brother's a little homicidal, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Loki has been passing strange for some time now." Thor frowned at his coffee and then tried sipping it again. "I do not know what to make of all of it."

"Make out of it that Loki is homicidal." Tony blew on his own coffee. "What's with the change of heart, anyway? Last I checked, he wanted to subjugate Earth, not protect it."

Thor looked down at his coffee. "He said to me; 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. The Chitauri are no longer his allies, and with at least one of the missing Infinity gems here on Earth, I suppose he assumed the Avengers would be a good choice." He furrowed his brow. "He also said he was doing this for me, however." He shook his head. "I do not know."

"So we have to take his word for all of this, is that what you're saying?"

"The Chitauri _did_ take the Infinity Gauntlet, but yes, we must take his word as to what it does and how powerful it is. There are other magi on Asgard, but save one, none as powerful as Loki and I know not if they had studied the Gauntlet such as he had." Thor sipped at his coffee again, making a face. "This tastes more bitter than I recall."

"Oh. I'm used to taking mine straight." Tony pulled over sugar and creamer. "There you go." He watched Thor figure out how to add the flavorings to his coffee and gave him a spoon to stir it all in with. "Are you sure he's telling the truth about the Chitauri though? He could still be in league with them."

Thor scowled and shook his head. "I thought so as well, but my brother showed true ignorance of the fact. When he found out what had happened, he quite clearly panicked. Loki....he is not as brave as a warrior, but I have never in my life seen him so frightened as he was then. I believe him."

"Huh." Tony looked over at the terrace door. "Hard to imagine him being afraid of anything. Well, except the Hulk, I guess."

"Mayhaps I should speak with him." Thor also looked that way, then moved to head over there and outside himself.

"Mm...." Tony watched him go and sipped his drink. "JARVIS. Assemble the blue panels. Rush delivery. Green too. Remember to wake him up slowly." Steve and Bruce needed to know about this, even though a part of Tony was wary about getting them involved with Loki having been insisting that he assemble the Avengers.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Thor headed outside and looked over at Loki. He was staring out at the city, squinting slightly against the sun's glare refracting off distant windows. Thor stepped over to him, blowing on his coffee and sipping it.

"I could have been their King." Loki intoned softly as Thor came abreast of him. "Their lives would have been made peaceful. Free from freedom."

"No, brother." Thor shook his head. "That would not be a kindness."

"They make war upon themselves and bring cruelty down upon one another in the name of beliefs they twist to suit themselves."

"The humans have always made war, brother. We partook of many battles ourselves and feasted heartily at many Norse tables. Have you forgotten such?"

Loki sighed heavily. "I cared not for the battles, Thor. You never paid me much heed on the matter, but I did not care for it. My children of that age were the druids and wise men." He closed his eyes. "How ironic. Humanity claims itself advanced, and yet in so many ways they have only become more barbaric."

Thor switched the coffee mug to his left hand in order to put his right on Loki's shoulder. "When the Chitauri come, we shall have made ourselves ready for them. It will be thanks to you and your knowledge, brother."

Loki opened his eyes again to look at him sideways. "Is that what you came out here to say?"

"Loki...." Thor gave his shoulder a light shake and pulled him around to face him. "Thank you. I know you are not fond of them, and you say you are doing this for your own reasons, but still...thank you."

Loki gave another sigh and reached out to grasp Thor's bare arm. "I stand by your side, brother. No matter what trouble you get me into. You have shown your loyalty to me, and therefore I return it."

Thor smiled. "I am glad to have you at my side, Loki." He paused and his smile faded slightly. "You are still very cold."

"So I realize." Loki turned away to look back out across the city again, flexing blistered fingers. "But I should likely be grateful that this is the only lasting effect. Hopefully with time, this too will fade."

"Yes, though you have always been cool to the touch."

"I'm aware of that, Thor."

They lapsed into silence then, Thor following Loki's gaze and not saying anything more for a time.

"Why were you insisting that Tony Stark call the Avengers?" Thor asked after a few minutes.

Loki tilted his head and gave the older an incredulous look. "Do you think I want to be all day at this, Thor? The sooner they know about the Gauntlet and what is likely to be coming, the sooner I can wash my hands of it all."

"Wash your hands of it?" Thor seemed surprised. "But brother. We have come to fight together against the Chitauri!"

Loki rolled his eyes up and then looked at the other. "Thor. Though I have no doubt the Chitauri will come, I know not when and I know not where. I warn the Avengers because they proved able to defeat them before, not because I have any intention of giving them actual _aid_. This is your fight brother, and I brought you to have it. Your fight, not mine."

"But, Loki..."

"Enough." Loki put both hands on the railing, fingers curling in slightly to scrape against the glass and he bowed his head slightly. "You don't understand, Thor." He spoke softly. "I am not a warrior like you are."

Thor put a hand on the younger's shoulder. "Loki....you fear them so much. I know you are not a warrior, but it is not like you to show fear as openly as you did when you realized the Chitauri had come to Asgard. What happened in that year you were gone?"

"The year you thought me dead? The year you mourned for your poor lost brother?" Loki sneered and turned his head to glare at him, then looked away. "As ever you question my bravery. You think me a coward for not fighting as you do. I tire of such accusations."

Thor's brows drew together, puzzled. "I am not calling you a coward, brother. You cannot fight as we do. You are a Sorcerer."

"Oh yes, and for that I am belittled." Loki brushed off Thor's hand on his shoulder and paced to the far end of the walkway. "'Some do battle, others just do tricks'." Loki turned back to him. "Your own words, Thor. Or would you deny them as you deny every slight you have ever brought against me?"

Thor frowned, looking at Loki in confusion. "What is this suddenly, brother? Why do you turn against me?"

Loki only sighed heavily and turned away without answering.

"Loki..." Thor stepped closer, then paused and frowned. "You are avoiding the question. What happened while you were in the company of the Chitauri? What did they do to you?" His voice became a growl. "Did they hurt you?"

Loki began to laugh. It began as a soft chuckle before blooming into almost manic cackling and ending with a sound very close to a sob. He lowered his head, chuckles fading away again. "Did they hurt me...." He muttered, shaking his head and seeming horridly amused while Thor only stared at him in worry. "Oh Thor, _dear_ Thor. You think that's all it takes?" He brought a hand up to his face, covering his eyes. "......I need the staff."

"What?" Thor was baffled by the abrupt change in topic.

"The staff." Loki straightened up, turning to look at Thor, calm once more. "My staff. The staff you foolishly left in mortal hands." His eyes narrowed slightly. "I simply cannot _believe_ you let them have it. You _know_ what they wished to do with the Tesseract!"

"It was a trade, Loki. I would allow them to keep the staff, which they do not have the ability to use, and they would allow me to take the Tesseract."

"A _trade_?!" Loki was incredulous. "We are _Gods_ , Thor! We don't _trade_! We _take_!"

"I do not wish to foul my relations with the mortals, Loki." Thor frowned at him. "Why do you desire the staff so keenly?"

Loki sighed heavily. "It matters little. You would not aid me, regardless." He put both hands on the rail and then abruptly shifted into the form of a magpie, perching there. "I need to, as the mortals say, 'clear my head'." He spread his wings. "I will return later, Thor. Perhaps by then Stark will have done the sensible thing and called upon the Avengers." He released the rail and let the morning thermals rising from the buildings carry him around the side of Stark tower.

Thor watched where he'd gone, then he sighed heavily and turned to head back inside, wishing he could understand his brother and better gauge his moods.

\------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as Loki was out of sight, he teleported to reappear inside Tony's lab, returning to his Asgardian form at the same time. He looked around quickly, and then approached the nearest workstation. Tilting his head, he contemplated the blank viewscreens, then placed his fingers on one, spreading them. The lights flickered, but then the screen snapped on and Loki smiled.

"Machine." He spoke authoritatively. "Show me the locations of all known S.H.I.E.L.D bases." He watched as a map came up, spots lighting up as S.H.I.E.L.D bases were identified. Loki's smile faded as more than sixty locations revealed themselves. There was almost no chance he'd be able to investigate all of them. He worked his jaw. "Machine....where is the location of the staff?"

The computer beeped at him. _"Unknown designation; 'the staff'. Express more exact parameters."_

Loki snorted softly, though he allowed himself a small smirk at having apparently broken Tony's AI. "Tesseract staff. Loki's staff. Asgardian staff." He tried next, but all the results were the same. He glared at the screen, his fingers pressing a little harder against it. "......Show me the location of the Helicarrier."

 _"Scanning."_ A numbered bar popped up on the screen and Loki impatiently waited. It was about 25% done when it abruptly jumped to 100% and the Helicarrier's location appeared. At the same time, Loki heard a door slam above him and feet pounding down the steps. He straightened up slightly to look over as Tony and Thor thundered into view, apparently alerted by something going wrong with JARVIS. Tony frantically tried to key in the code, but it wouldn't let him through.

"Machine. Print this information." Loki watched Tony's efforts while Thor pounded on the glass that kept them separated, listening to the printer whirring away behind him.

"Damnit!" Tony swore. "I can't get the door to open!"

".....Then I will have to make a door." Thor took Mjölnir off his belt.

Loki removed his fingers from the screen, the lights flickering again when he removed his influence from the system. He strode over to the printer, picking up the papers just as the glass shattered and Thor came rushing through.

Loki turned to face them and smiled. "I just love modern innovations." He commented in a conversational tone. Thor lunged forward, but Loki was gone before he took two steps.

"Damnit!" Tony stepped in, careful of the broken glass. "JARVIS. What's your status?"

_"System coming back online now, sir. I'm sorry. There was nothing I could do to stop him."_

"No no, it's not your fault." Tony ran his fingers shakingly through his hair. "What did he want?"

_"He appeared to desire the locations of S.H.I.E.L.D bases and the Helicarrier. He also inquired about the Chitauri staff, but was unable to guess at its designation."_

"That's not going to matter, depending on where he goes first." Tony took a deep breath and strode over to his workstation. "Okay. Patch me through to Fury."

While Tony worked on warning S.H.I.E.L.D about Loki, Thor looked down at his hammer with a dismayed and hurt expression, not knowing how to feel about this latest betrayal of his good faith.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Loki slunk through the Helicarrier's corridors with a spell of invisibility wrapped around him, sticking close behind agents going in directions he wanted so the automatic doors would open while he searched for any areas that looked like it might hold something important. He was only at it for about five minutes however before an alarm sounded.

"Attention!" A woman's voice came over the PA system. "Possible hostile on board. Initiate Phase Two protocols."

Loki quickly stepped back against a wall to get out of the way of agents thundering past him. It seemed that Stark had wasted no time in informing S.H.I.E.L.D about his presence, and after a few moments, he smiled coldly. That human was determined to make things difficult for him, but he would never let it be said that he would shy from a challenge.

He moved more carefully now, keeping close to walls to avoid being run into and followed a group of three agents equipped with what appeared to be reverse-engineered Chitauri weapons into what seemed to be a high security area. He smiled, certain that he was close to his objective and lifted his hands to prepare a sleep spell when the lights abruptly went out, the Helicarrier shuddering under his feet.

The agents muttered in confusion and Loki wondered if the announcement had been about him after all. The lights came back on after a few moments, but then to Loki's surprise their attention quickly focused on him and they raised their weapons.

Puzzled, Loki looked down at himself and found some kind of strange glitter outlining his form. "Oh....well, that's inventive." He dropped his invisibility spell and they stiffened further once he was identified.

"Loki!" An older, male agent spoke. "Surrender immediately!"

"Oh, but of course." Moments later the three agents before him were all felled by daggers to their gun hands and knees. "Of course not, that is." Loki stepped over and looked down at them while they frantically tried to recover before he could reach them. His eyes flashed aqua. "Sleep." They fell into unconsciousness sluggishly, and he stepped past them once he was sure they were out, not trusting his back to those weapons while they could still potentially use them.

Reaching the triple-bolted door, Loki peered through the tiny porthole to see scientists frantically trying to lock down their workstations. He smiled when he saw his objective sitting in the middle of the flurry, and summoned the Casket to freeze the door and then break it down.

His appearance was still returning to normal when the door shattered and he strode in. He paused and looked around, enjoying their mindless panic. These were not soldiers, not warriors. They had been brought here to study the staff. They were like sheep really, bleating out their terror in helplessness.

A slight motion from above was the only warning Loki had before an arrow flew out at him. He caught it and moved to throw it aside, remembering what had happened the last time. Before he had the chance however, an electric pulse shot through the arrow, zapping him with enough voltage to send him to his hands and knees and likely kill a normal person. Another arrow was loosed before he could recover and then he found himself pinned down to the floor by a net. Tiny but sturdy hooks kept it adhered to the floor and to parts of Loki's clothing. Loki tried to push himself up, but found he didn't have the leverage to do so. Whatever the net was made out of was pretty strong.

He laughed in cold amusement, tilting his head so that he could see when Clint left the observation area and jumped down, aiming another arrow square at his face.

"Go on." Clint said. "Give me a reason."

Loki chuckled. "Ahh, Agent Barton. How wonderful to see you. Do you enjoy this? Forcing a God to kneel before you?" Clint didn't answer and Loki chuckled again before his form shimmered and the net was abruptly empty.

Clint spun around, looking desperately for signs of Loki. His eyes elsewhere, he missed when the fly the Trickster had become flew free of the net and reformed again.

Loki lashed out with a jab to the back of his neck, felling him immediately. He then strode forward, ignoring the nervously milling scientists and placed a hand to the dome protecting the staff. "Hm." Frost spread out from his hand, then congealed into ice and he brought his hand back to slam his fist into the spot. It took several blows, but finally the thick plastic gave way and he was able to reach in and lay hand upon his objective. Without any further fanfare or gloating, he vanished. This was too precious to risk with further theatrics, in spite of his urges to do otherwise.


	7. Green Eyes

Tony arched a brow at Steve and Natasha as they strode onto the penthouse floor of Stark Tower. "Wow." He commented. "You sure got here fast. Isn't DC four hours away?"

"Wasn't in DC." Steve dropped his travel bag on the floor, though he kept his shield strapped to his back as he stepped over. "S.H.I.E.L.D had me doing some PR in Philly. So, what's going on? JARVIS said it was urgent."

"Oh." Tony glanced at Natasha, then answered Steve's question by motioning to Thor, who was pacing by the windows. "A bit of an Asgardian-sized issue, looks like."

Steve looked over and frowned.

"What is going on, Stark?" Natasha repeated Steve's question, loosely crossing her arms and fixing Tony with a look that would have a lesser man bursting into flames.

Tony gave her a suffering look, then turned away. "JARVIS. Bring up the information on the Infinity Gauntlet." He looked back at Steve and Natasha when it came up on holographic display and motioned to it. "There's a bit of this, a bit of that and a lot of Loki."

"Loki?" Steve's frown became a scowl and he furrowed his brows, then looked over at Thor.

"Aye." Thor turned to step over, his expression poorly hiding his emotional pain. "My brother served out his sentence and was allowed back into Asgard. I believed he had been reformed, but it seems to me now that this is not the case. He has gone forth to seek his staff, and I fear what he will do once he has found it."

"Lovely." Natasha sighed. She stepped forward then and reached up to touch the holographic gauntlet. "What's this thing?"

"The Infinity Gauntlet." Tony turned to face the display and crossed his arms, frowning slightly. He sighed heavily. "According to Thor...and Loki, the Chitauri broke into Asgard and ran off with it."

Natasha looked at Tony and arched a brow, then she looked to Thor. "Alright." She said. "So what does it do, then?"

"I..." Thor made a face. "My brother explained some of it, but beyond what he had already spoken of, I know not. It is an item of magic, and I know not of magic."

Natasha pinched her brow and exhaled softly. "So what did Loki say it does?" She said with a tone of tried patience.

"JARVIS." Tony spoke up smugly. "Play the recording of Loki's explanation." He and then Natasha stepped back as holograms of Loki and Tony appeared. Thor gave the projection an odd look as the holographic recording went through the motions, the simulation ending just after Tony threw coffee into the Asgardian's face.

"Good job at ticking him off, Tony." Steve remarked dryly. "Still, we know what the gems in the gauntlet do at least, provided he wasn't lying."

"Yeah." Tony nodded. "Bruce is doing a search to try and find out if the Infinity Gauntlet or any of the gems Loki named have shown up on Earth before. Doesn't seem like there're any hits yet though or he'd be in here telling us about it."

"So the Chitauri have this. Why tell us?" Natasha's eyes narrowed slightly. "It seems a little too convenient."

"Loki was not on Asgard when the Chitauri attacked and took the gauntlet." Thor spoke up. "He told me that one of the gems is here on Earth, and gave me the option of warning my mortal friends."

"Seemed like it was more something he wanted." Steve pointed out. "He kept telling Tony to call the Avengers."

"Mm, yes..." Thor nodded slightly and looked off to the side. "He said 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'." He sighed and looked back at Steve. "I have already explained all of this once. I do not know why my brother seeks the staff or what he intends, but I believe that he is no longer the Chitauri's ally. Still--"

 _"Sir."_ JARVIS cut in smoothly. _"Director Fury is on the line."_

"Well shit. Put him on." Tony smoothed his hair back awkwardly, then focused on a projection of Fury's face and upper torso appearing overtop the gauntlet projection. "Nick! Great to see you. We only spoke, what? Half an hour ago?"

"Spare me, Stark." Fury sighed heavily. "You were right about Loki heading for the Helicarrier first. He took down several agents, including Barton, and made off with the staff."

"Barton?" Natasha asked sharply.

Fury turned his head in her direction and smiled slightly. "Don't worry, he's fine. Other than a concussion, he'll recover in no time." Fury's smile faded again and he folded his arms behind his back. "In actuality, I didn't lose even one agent. They're seriously injured and are going to need surgery to reattach muscles, but no fatalities."

"What?" Natasha looked confused, then annoyed. "That's not right. Loki doesn't leave survivors, not intentionally anyway." She glanced at Thor, then back at Fury. "What's his M.O?"

"An excellent question." Fury arched a brow. "He has the staff, so he needs to be found quickly." His attention shifted to Tony. "I see you went ahead and assembled the Avengers."

"Just about." Tony responded simply. "So I guess you're calling us to duty again?"

"Of course." Fury cut the connection and Tony sighed heavily.

"Okay then." Tony paced away from the holograms. "Loki's got the staff of mind control, and we've got a potential Chitauri invasion on the way...."

"An invasion you didn't warn Fury about." Natasha pointed out.

"I didn't see _you_ speaking up either." Tony sighed again and swiped at his hair. "Okay, come on. We've gotta have something to work with. Are you _sure_ you don't know anything about the gauntlet, Thor?"

"It is a magical artifact that bestows the wielder with great power." Thor sounded slightly exasperated. "I know little else. I am a warrior, not a magi!" He gave Tony a look. "Mayhaps if you had acquiesced to Loki's wishes sooner, we would know all that he could tell."

"Oh yeah, because I was totally going to do that when someone who was my _enemy_ is telling me to." Tony crossed his arms and scowled at Thor. "Besides, I recorded everything he told me, so I could have shown them the entire thing once I was satisfied that he wasn't trying to pull one over on me."

"Maybe that's why he went after the staff?" Steve guessed. He knew he was grasping at straws, but even that was better than nothing. "To try and force you to comply?"

"Yeah, no. I don't think so. Didn't work out so well for him the last time he tried it, probably because of this." Tony tapped the mini arc reactor. "Good guess though, Stevey."

Steve gave him a look, then focused his attention back on the image of the gauntlet. "Either way, assuming Loki was telling the truth about it, we've got a huge problem on our hands. If the Chitauri _do_ come here, we'll be fighting against a force with a commander who can warp reality, be anywhere and everywhere, and can potentially control and manipulate souls." He gestured at the images. "How do we fight an enemy like that? We need a plan, a course of action."

Thor sighed heavily. "My brother does lie, but I do not believe he would lie about this. He wishes for us to fight back against the Chitauri, not give in to despair."

"Yeah. What's that about anyway?" Steve turned his attention to Thor. "The last time, they were his staunch allies. Would they really turn on him just because their invasion failed?"

"Loki seems to believe that they will." Thor frowned at Steve. "You did not see my brother's reaction when I told him the Chitauri had entered Asgard. He was terrified, and we of Asgard do not easily show fear, not even him."

"Thor," Steve shook his head. "I don't mean to insult your faith in your brother, but he _is_ known for lies and tricks. How can you be certain it wasn't just an act?"

Thor nodded slightly. "Perhaps if he had panicked before only me, then I would find suspect his motives, but he broke down before the entire court. Loki receives enough scorn for being a wielder of words and spells rather than weapons, he would not want to appear any weaker than it is already known that he is."

"You say that, but--"

 _"Sirs and madam,"_ JARVIS broke in. _"I have just detected an energy discharge on the roof."_ He paused briefly. _"It appears to be Loki."_

"Well hey, speak of the Devil." Tony glanced at the others, then took off at a full sprint for the exit to his suit assembly platform outside. "JARVIS. What's he doing up there? Can you shut it down?"

_"Negative, sir. It is self-contained."_

"Well, that's peachy." Tony halted his pellmell pace once he got to the center of the platform so his armor could be assembled, Thor, Steve and Natasha taking the other route outside in the meantime. "Can you do _anything_ to stop whatever he's doing?"

_"I'm afraid not, sir."_

"Damn." Tony looked over at the others just as Natasha wrapped her arms around Thor's neck from behind and Thor grasped Steve by the back of his bomber jacket to launch them all upward to where Loki was. Tony sighed and then faced forward again as the last pieces of armor were attached and he took off to join them.

Loki was standing in roughly the same place the Tesseract device had once been with the staff gripped tightly in his right hand and his left hovering over the gem in the head. Blue energy was pulsing around both him and the entire head of the staff as he stared intently at it, not even seeming to be aware of their presences.

"Alright." Steve unslung his shield. "If anyone's got any ideas, now would be the time."

"I've got one." Tony stepped forward, raising his hands and charging repulsor blasts. "Might want to hunker down, though."

"Nay!" Thor held a hand up. "Hold off, Man of Iron and look." The pulsing energy surrounding Loki seemed to be going into the staff, and after several moments more it was gone from around him completely. The staff was now glowing brightly and Loki's left hand drew closer to the gem. The energy flared briefly, but then slowly began to die off and he finally lifted his head, fixing eyes now emerald green upon the Avengers gathered before him.

"......Heh." Loki smiled faintly and then doubled over, bringing up what appeared to be dark red blood. He tried to straighten, but toppled over instead, the staff dropping from his hand as he fell onto his side.

"Loki!" Thor rushed forward, dropping Mjölnir to the ground in his haste to get to his brother's side. He crouched down and reached out for the younger, only to wince and draw back. He looked confused, and then reached out again, hissing softly as he cupped Loki's head in his hands. "Brother...."

"Thor, what is it?" Steve asked.

"He has become such as ice." Thor looked down at Loki in worry and confusion, as while Loki was as cold as a Jötun, he still wore his Asgardian appearance. "....Loki?"

"Peace...brother." Loki's voice was faint. "I'm not...dead." He forced his eyes open slightly and looked at Thor from between squinted lids. "You burn..." He whispered. "It....burns...."

"You are freezing cold, Loki." Thor had to put Loki's head down and he looked at his hands. "I do not think I can lift you."

"Oh...." Loki's appearance rippled, skin turning ridged and blue briefly before returning to his usual appearance. He closed his eyes, and his hands clenched loosely. His skin rippled again, this time turning black and furred before once against returning to his Asgardian appearance.

"No, Loki." Thor looked alarmed when he realized what Loki was trying to do. "Do not try to transform. I will think of a way." He looked over at the others helplessly.

Steve, looking as confused as everyone no doubt felt, strapped his shield onto his back again and stepped over to crouch beside Thor. ".....Oh wow. He really _is_ cold. He's radiating it." He made a face, and then reached into the pockets of his jacket for gloves.

Tony also stomped over, though he knelt down by the blood, staring at it intently to get a good scan. "......Damn." He commented casually. "I'm no doctor, but those don't look like your every day hemoglobins."

"Priorities, Tony." Steve muttered in exasperation, zipping up his jacket and putting his driving gloves on.

"I've got alien blood on my roof, Cap. This _is_ my priority." Tony replied, dipping a metal-encased finger into the liquid. "You can handle the Ice Prince, can't you? Or is that too many bad memories for you?"

Steve shot him a look, but then just sighed and steadied himself to pick up Loki, clenching his teeth against both the cold and the unexpected weight. "Been....working out, have you Loki?" He grunted as he stood up.

Loki gave a faint, raspy laugh. "Happy....to explain later." He winced. "The staff...."

"Worry not about it, brother." Thor responded, standing up with Steve.

"Don't let them....return it.....to S.H.I.E.L.D." Loki's appearance shifted to Jötun again and remained that way for several moments before reverting to Asgardian again, then his head lolled to the side as he apparently went unconscious.

Steve gave Loki an odd look and sighed, then looked at Natasha, who had stepped over to pick up the staff. "So, what are you going to do with it?" He asked her.

"At the moment?" Natasha looked at the staff, then gave a slight shrug. "It's out of Loki's hands and he just totally incapacitated himself. That's got my attention. I want to know what's going on, so for now until I see a reason for that to change, consider me under your command." She quirked a small smile.

Steve nodded, then looked between Thor and Tony. "Alright. So who wants to get me down from here?"

\------------------------------------------------------------

It had been several hours since Steve had conveyed Loki to a guest room on the penthouse floor. Thor stayed at his brother's side all the while, sitting in a plush chair he'd pulled in and watching Loki as if he were afraid he would stop breathing if he dared to look away. Every so often, he would reach out to touch Loki's hand. At first, the contact caused him pain, but as time went on Loki's body began to warm and Thor was able to hold onto his hand for longer and longer periods. He had just reached out to do so again when Loki shuddered and uttered a groan.

Thor perked up immediately and leaned forward, the chair creaking slightly. "Loki?"

Loki gave a soft exhalation and opened tired green eyes to look at the other. "Where am I?"

Thor laughed in relief. "You are in Tony Stark's tower, in a room for guests." His expression sobered. "You have been unconscious a long time, brother. I was worried."

"You worry too much." Loki pulled his hand free of Thor's and moved to sit up, shaking his head out slightly. He looked back at him again afterward. "The staff?"

"Last I know of, they have decided to keep it here until you can explain what happened."

Loki sighed. "Yes, I suppose I should offer an explanation to my ever so gracious hosts. Very well." He moved to stand, and Thor got up out of the chair to stand by in case Loki needed help. Other than a slight stumble however, the younger was able to stand on his own.

"Loki...." Thor reached out to turn his brother and then take his face in his hands to look at him intently. "Your eyes are back to being green again. What happened, brother? What was it you did?"

Loki slowly brought a hand up to touch Thor's, curling his fingers around the other's. He cast his eyes down and closed them. "You'll get your answer when I explain it to your mortal comrades." He spoke softly. His eyes opened again to look back to Thor. "It seems the last of the poison has been burned out of me. The heat of you is no longer painful."

Thor frowned. "You should not have strained yourself so, Loki." He chastised. "You are being weakened needlessly!"

Loki snorted and pulled away from his touch to pace through the room, looking around it as he did. "I have not been taxing myself for idle sport, brother. My magic tolls upon me as great physical exertion tolls upon you. I would even say moreso, for I am using my mind and you only your muscles." He sighed heavily and stopped walking, letting his head hang wearily. "Is it the same day we came here, Thor?"

"Aye." Thor answered simply, watching the younger with slight worry.

Loki sighed again. "Then no more time can be wasted. They need to be informed in case the worst should happen." With that, he moved to sweep out of the room, Thor following.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone was seated in the main lounge area when Loki stepped in with Thor following him. A giant, wraparound couch swathed in deep red took up most of the space with a flat panel TV taking up the middle half of the wall at the opposite end.

"Turn off." Tony told the TV as soon as the Asgardians entered and looked over at them, focusing on Loki. "Well, looks like Sleeping Beauty woke up."

Loki gave him a look. "....How long was I unconscious?"

"About four hours." Tony replied. He moved to stand. "So, mind telling us what that deal with the staff was?"

Loki's lips curled back in an expression more akin to a wolf snarling than an actual smile. "The long and the short of it is simply this; I was removing the last of the Tesseract's influence."

"The Tesseract's influence?" Steve repeated, frowning. "I don't understand."

"Evidently not." Loki gave a put upon sigh. "Very well. I will elaborate." He strode further into the room, taking a place in front of the TV so he could look at all of them. "The staff was created by the Chitauri for me. I helped to design some of it, most notably the jewel which powers it, a mineral which was _incredibly_ difficult to produce." He closed his eyes briefly in memory of that trial, but then opened them again and focused on Tony. "The jewel is connected to the Tesseract, and in all the blasted cube's sly ways, it wormed itself into my mind through it as I in turn put it into the minds of Erik Selvig and Agent Barton."

"Then how did you...." Tony made a vague gesture with his hand. "You know. Break free of it, or whatever?"

Loki nodded vaguely in Bruce's direction, though they noticed he wouldn't actually look at him. "The beast began the process, and I finished the job just earlier." His eyes narrowed slightly and he steepled his fingers before his midsection. "I'm a God, Tony Stark. It couldn't get into my mind the same way it could get into a human's. But by the same measure, what influence it _did_ have was harder to remove."

"And that's why you needed the staff?" Tony questioned.

"Indeed."

"Then why did you say nothing of it, brother?" Thor spoke up, perplexed. "Surely we could have saved much time if you had but explained."

Loki arched a brow and turned to look at Thor incredulously. After a few moments, he shook his head and chuckled softly. "Oh, Thor. Dear, _dear_ brother. How quickly you forget." He spread his hands, seemingly deciding to ignore the presence of the others. "Things may fall into _your_ lap at the merest implication of want, but even at my best times, it has never been thus for me."

"Do not patronize me, brother." Thor growled, lightning crackling just behind his eyes.

Loki straightened up, all amusement wiping clean off his face and restrained anger taking its place. "Do you think I would have been believed, Thor? By you or anyone else? How convenient it would have seemed, that all I would need is the staff and the freedom to use it and all would be well again." He gave the older an exasperated look and then turned away, eyes glancing over the others. "No. The time I would have wasted trying to convince someone of my intentions could be better served retrieving the blasted thing, so that is what I did. Foolish of me to have even voiced my need for it at all." He sighed heavily, and then focused on Tony. "You could have spared those of S.H.I.E.L.D much strife if you had only kept your silence. It was a great kindness on my part to leave them alive."

"Yes." Natasha spoke up, standing to join Tony. "Why _did_ you leave them alive? Seems like a little too much trouble."

Loki smiled slightly, focusing on her and looking vaguely amused. "Not all of us are cold-blooded assassins, Agent Romanoff." He spread his hands out. "I don't see why it should be of concern though, since my choice to let them all live spared Barton."

"It concerns me in as much that it's atypical behavior." Natasha responded.

Loki affected a puzzled expression and tilted his head slightly. "And who are you to determine what is and is not atypical behavior for me? You met me but one time, while I was under the influence of the Tesseract no less. You have no place to decide what is usual for me." He smirked suddenly and straightened up. "Or did our little exchange at the time really bother you that much? I must have shaken you quite badly, and here I had even been convinced you had pulled a ruse. Tricked twice. My my, I must be slipping."

"Loki." Thor sounded mildly annoyed. "Please do not antagonize my friends."

"Oh, but it's alright when they antagonize me." Loki rolled his eyes and turned to the TV. He snapped his fingers at it and it turned on, silent snow moving across it. He touched his fingers lightly to the bottom of it and concentrated. The lights in the room dimmed briefly, but as they came back to full strength they saw that the snow had been replaced with the magically colored scans of the Infinity Gauntlet and its gems.

"Okay," Bruce commented softly. "I'm impressed."

Loki turned back to them all and focused on Tony, who was pursing his lips and looking mildly unhappy, likely because of Loki being able to so easily use his tech. "Do I need to explain all of this from the beginning, or did you manage to remember enough of it to convey to your comrades?"

"I did you one better and recorded it, then showed it to the others." Tony replied, moving to sit down and motioning for Natasha to do the same. "But hey, you're the teacher here, so it's really up to you."

Loki gave him a look of incomprehension for a few moments before he sighed heavily. "If only that were so," He muttered in irritation. "This would be all so much more tolerable if you were children." He rolled his eyes upward for several moments, and then looked at Thor. "You may as well join your companions," He spoke in a weary tone of someone trying to maintain their patience. "Blessedly, since Stark can 'record' all of this, at least I will not have to do this twice." He uttered another heavy sigh and waited for Thor to go sit next to Steve before he turned to the big screen TV. He contemplated it for several moments, gathering his thoughts before with flicking gestures with his fingers, the three gems he hadn't previously covered detaching from the static image to rotate over his hand.

"These are the gems that were not present in the Infinity Gauntlet at the time that it was taken." He began before plucking the orange one and holding it up as if it was actually physically there. "The Time gem. It allows the user absolute control over the past, present and future. Not only does that entail time travel, but it can be used to can age and de-age whoever or whatever the user wished and also be used to trap individuals or entire worlds in unending loops of time." He smiled coldly. "I think you can all see the problem "

"They're _all_ problems." Steve spoke up. "But please continue."

Loki ignored him and vanished the gem to let it reappear on the scan. Next he held up the blue gem. "The Mind gem allows whomever uses it to greatly strengthen and enhance mental and psionic power as well as access the thoughts and dreams of other beings. It can be used to manipulate and control, much as I used the staff, in fact. However, when coupled with this" He motioned to the red gem hovering his other hand. "it could be used to contact and potentially control every self-aware being in the universe, possibly even the Gods themselves." He took a deep breath and closed his hand over the blue gem before focusing on the red.

"The Power gem. The ultimate catalyst. It accesses all power and energy that ever has or will exist, and more importantly, strengthens the other gems. With all gems assembled around it, the user is rendered all but invincible." He closed his hand around that gem too. "I hate that I find myself in a position where mortals must be granted access to this information. I _trust_ you will not abuse what you have learned."

"Thor told us that one of the gems is on Earth." Steve spoke up again. He motioned to the images behind Loki. "Which one is it?"

"The Mind gem." Loki answered immediately. "It is in the hands of Charles Xavier. Fitting, no?"

Steve gave him a puzzled look, but Tony snapped his fingers. "The guy who created the School for Gifted Youngsters? Yeah, I guess that does make sense."

Loki snorted and turned away from them all. "If I am right about the gauntlet, there may be an attack by the Chitauri as early as tomorrow, so make yourselves ready." Before further questions could be asked, Loki left the room.

All attention focused on Thor, who looked decidedly uncomfortable. "As early as tomorrow?" Steve echoed.

"I will go ask him about it." Thor responded before standing to follow his brother.

\------------------------------------------------------------

"Loki."

Loki sighed heavily and stopped stalking down the hall back toward the room he'd been given. "What, Thor?"

Thor approached him, taking note of his posture, which was tense. "Brother, what ails you?"

"Nothing ails me, Thor."

Thor stepped closer. "You are tense."

Loki looked back at him, shooting him an annoyed look. "You truly have no fathoming as to why that might be? _Truly_ , Thor?"

Thor's brows furrowed, and then he frowned. "You do not like my friends."

"Indeed not." Loki turned to continue down the hallway, but Thor grabbed his shoulder.

"Brother, they are not your enemies."

Loki sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "We are not enemies at the present moment true, but we _were_ , and as I told you, they do not forgive as easily or as quickly as you do. We hold a wary truce at the moment, and nothing more than that. I have done my part, and now I wish to depart from their company." He shoved off Thor's hand and turned. "Or must I now ever be in your company, lest I run off and return to my old tricks?"

Thor looked hurt. "You were not well."

"I am fine now, Thor. Just because I am not as strong as you does not mean I am a _wilting flower_." Loki snarled. "If you coddled Sif thus, I imagine she would leave you whimpering on the floor clutching yourself."

Thor smiled briefly before he looked at Loki seriously. "I am not coddling you, brother. I am concerned. You have had a hard time of things of late." He drew himself up. "I am your elder brother, sworn to take care of you. I have a right to be concerned!"

"Your concern is noted, but I am _fine_." Loki sighed softly and some of the animosity faded from his expression and he waved a hand back the way Thor had come. "Go spend time with your mortal companions."

Thor blinked and began to turn to do that, but then he turned back quickly. "Wait, Loki. What did you mean when you said they could attack as early as tomorrow and what does that have to do with the gauntlet?"

"Oh." Loki sighed. "Without the Power gem, the gauntlet...." He paused, pursing his lips. "It runs out of fuel, so to speak, when the gems are used. The more power used, the more is drained and it must be worn to gain its 'fuel' back, as without the Power gem, the energy comes from the wearer, which eventually wears _them_ out. It has been sitting in the Vault, so it started off having no power." Loki shrugged slightly. "By my estimate, when worn, it should take about two days to fully charge, though that estimate admittedly comes based off Asgardian energies. Concerning another being, it may take longer, or it could already be charged. If our foe is clever, he may seek out the Power gem first, and I know not its location. I simply gave the soonest estimate of when trouble may come."

"So you know not for certain when the Chitauri will attack?"

"I do not." Loki responded. "I am certain they will come eventually, but I do not know when. The longer it takes, the better prepared this world will be regardless." He shrugged. "Go spend time with your mortal friends, Thor. I will rest and recover in the meantime."

Thor nodded. "Yes, brother. You should rest." He smiled to Loki and turned to head back to the others.

Loki watched him go and smiled, then vanished to once more take care of things in his own way.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Loki looked up at the School for Gifted Youngsters and smiled before he opened some of his mental barriers to let the telepaths within to get a sense of him. Because he was expecting it, he felt when two human minds brushed his and reeled at what they found. Though they were merely scratching the surface, they seemed to find even that somewhat overwhelming.

 _*Who, or what are you?*_ The mental voice of Charles Xavier inquired after several tense moments.

 _*I would speak with you.*_ Loki thought back in response, ignoring his question. _*Face to face.*_

There was another long pause and Loki couldn't help but chuckle to himself. The human telepaths had no hope of finding out what his intentions were; his mental barriers were too strong for them to breach and his intellect too ancient for them to survive delving into it without burning out their own minds. It was making them nervous, and though he had no malicious intentions, he couldn't help but revel in the fear all the same.

 _*Of course.*_ Xavier answered at last. _*If you'll come through the front--*_

 _*No.*_ Loki interrupted. _*Show me your location and I will come to you that way.*_

Another pause, though this one shorter than the others and then an image filtered into Loki's mind of a room with a large window behind an oak desk, lined on either side by bookcases and with several plush chairs positioned on the other side of the desk. _*Here.*_

Loki studied the image long enough to get a good feel for it. He straightened his business suit and then vanished from his location outside the school to appear in the room. To Xavier's credit, he remained quite outwardly calm even at Loki's sudden appearance. The young red-headed woman who was also in the room on the other hand noticeably jumped. Loki looked around quickly but calmly, and then focused on Xavier, choosing to ignore the presence of the younger woman. "Professor Charles Xavier. Founder of the X-Men and favored of the Shi'ar Majestrix, Lilandra; I come with an important message for you."

Xavier's eyebrows rose and he steepled his fingers, settling back in his mechanized wheelchair. "That's quite the impressive list of titles." He spoke calmly. "Well, stranger. You seem to know quite a bit about me, but I find myself at a loss as to your identity."

"Ah, you didn't figure that out when you touched my mind?" Loki smiled and inclined his head slightly. "I am Loki of Asgard, second son of Odin Allfather and brother to Thor."

"Loki....the Norse God, Loki?" The young woman spoke up, sounding between surprised and disbelieving.

Loki chuckled softly and tilted his head to look at her from the corner of his eyes. "The very same. You know the stories?"

"I have something of a passion for ancient myths and legends." She responded. "Enough to know that we shouldn't trust anything you tell us."

"Hm." Loki chuckled softly. "I am the God of Trickery and Lies, yes. That does not mean that I must lie or trick any more than Thor must call down the thunder and the rains. Hear me out or not, Jean Grey. My words are not for you." He looked back at Xavier. "I would assume you were aware of the alien invasion two years whence?"

Xavier arched a brow. "Which one are you referring to?"

Loki blinked, then smiled almost sheepishly. "....Ah, but of course. The Chitauri invasion." Xavier and Jean continued to look at him in incomprehension and he grit his teeth slightly. "In which a portal to another place was opened in the sky? ......The battle in which my brother was seen to have fought in? .....No?"

Loki sighed heavily and stepped back from the desk before gesturing to the side and incanting mentally, creating a lifesize illusion of a Chitauri. "This," He said, motioning to it without looking directly at it. "is a Chitauri. In brief, they may be returning to Earth and I tell you this specifically, Xavier, because they may come seeking that which Lilandra gifted unto you."

"You mean the Mind Gem." Xavier confirmed.

"Exactly that." Loki vanished the illusionary Chitauri with a gesture.

"Hm." Xavier's brows furrowed. "I suppose you want to take it somewhere safe, then?"

Loki smiled. "No. I only warn you. If they come, hide it if you can. If you cannot hide it, simply do not give it to them, but allow them to take it. It connects you and the Shi'ar Empress, surely you know this. If it is taken from you, she will undoubtedly know and perhaps she will send her fleet against them."

"And you want this?" Jean questioned.

"The Earth might." Loki looked at her from the corner of his eyes again. "They have come into possession of a powerful artifact known as the Infinity Gauntlet." He looked back at Xavier again. "I have given you warning, and so you are thusly warned. If you truly wish to know more, you may contact the one called Tony Stark. I have done my part." With that, he vanished to appear in the room he'd woken up in some time earlier.

He staggered and caught himself on the wall, the modern clothes wisping away to be replaced by his Asgardian clothing. Thor was right, he had been pushing himself too hard. So then, the lie would become truth and he _would_ be resting after all. He silently cursed his weakness as he made his way toward the bed, but there was nothing he could do except rest to regain his strength. The Chitauri could descend on Earth at any point, and he needed to have his magic at full strength before that happened.


	8. Traitor

Evening had come to New York City, the setting sun reflecting a pinkish red off dozens of windows. It could almost have been considered beautiful. Inside Stark Tower however, there were more pressing concerns than the poetry of a pretty sunset.

"He said he was under the influence of the Tesseract." Tony said, sprawled over part of the couch positioned to look out onto the terrace. "But he didn't really seem to be acting all that different afterward either."

Natasha nodded slightly. "And if he _was_ under its influence, then there should have been a behavioral change between. There definitely was in Clint."

Steve looked over at Thor, who was pacing in agitation and had been since the debate had begun not that long before. "Is there anything you can add, Thor? You would know Loki better than any of us, after all."

"I do not know." Thor answered, shaking his head and continuing to pace. "Since falling from the Bifröst, Loki has been different. I cannot say what is normal for him any longer. Perhaps he is but posturing now, acting in a way you expect....but I do not know." He shook his head again.

Steve sighed and sat back, crossing his legs. "Regardless, he seems to be on our side for the moment. Even with his...um....reputation, we can't really do anything but trust what he's telling us and wait for the Chitauri to show up. At least he must be telling the truth about that."

"Unless he's getting us so worked up looking for a big threat that we overlook a smaller one." Bruce pointed out. "While we're looking at the skies, he sneaks in something else under our noses."

"The Chitauri attacked Asgard." Thor rumbled. "They took from us the Infinity Gauntlet. The threat _is_ real."

"Yeah okay, and he conveniently didn't know anything about that." Tony arched a brow.

"As I had told you before, he was not on Asgard." Thor stopped pacing to look at his human friends. "Our Father sent my brother on a diplomatic mission to the Dwarves to seek their aid in repairing the Bifröst and Loki arrived two hours after the attack. I do not believe he was involved."

"You said he'd panicked." Natasha spoke up. "And you thought he wouldn't have faked that reaction in front of others, so you assumed it was genuine. But what if he considered tricking you worth the blow to his reputation?"

Thor opened his mouth to answer, but then paused and frowned, brows furrowing.

"Oh, now Agent Romanoff." Everyone turned to look when Loki stepped into the room. "Don't do that, you're only going to confuse him."

"Loki." Strangely enough, she looked faintly amused rather than surprised. "How long have you been listening?"

"Long enough to know Thor told you about my little panic attack when he had informed me the Chitauri had breached the one place I believed to be a safe haven." He stopped and turned to face all of them, steepling his fingers before his midsection and narrowing his eyes at them.

"I have given you information no mortal deserves to have, warned you of the Chitauri invasion when I could have easily avoided doing so. The only thing I have done in any way against you in recent was the taking of the staff, which I _needed_ and have now left in trust where it was placed within this building."

He looked at each of them, though his eyes slid past Bruce rather quickly. "I have done this for you, and you repay me by trying to turn Thor against me." Loki clucked his tongue and turned away, folding his arms behind his back and heading to the window to look outside. "You have only met me but one time, and already you have formed such firm opinions. How typical."

".....You _are_ a talented liar...." Thor spoke slowly.

Loki was still for several moments before he lowered his head and chuckled softly. "So it begins...." He turned back, focusing on Thor. "You, who have always stood up for me in the past, have _always_ been my greatest defender, now bring down suspicion upon me because of the words of _mortals_." He stepped closer, expression darkening and voice lowering. "Why is it always mortals, Thor? The words of the Aesir and Vanir do not reach you, but when a _human_ speaks the same words, you suddenly start listening." He paused, then looked at the Avengers. "Excuse us. It seems my brother and I need to have a family chat." He reached out to put his hand on Thor's arm and they vanished in a flash of green light.

"JARVIS," Tony said immediately. "Any idea where they went?"

_"They appear to have returned to Loki's guest room, sir."_

"Well, let's have a look then, shall we?" A large holographic screen flickered into being and Tony at least, sat back to happily eavesdrop.

\------------------------------------------------------------

"Loki, what--?"

"Bad enough you would tell the mortals of my reaction to the discovery that the Chitauri had breached Asgard," Loki snapped, cutting him off. "But to allow one to sow doubt toward me! A _human woman_!" He grit his teeth, clenching his fists. "Always a human woman! I spent centuries trying to teach you how to become a proper King of Asgard, all for naught. But within less than a week upon Midgard's soil in the company of _that woman_ , suddenly you have the wisdom!" He spun away from him. "That I, who am _Jötun_ has more loyalty to Asgard than you do is laughable!"

"Have a care what you accuse me of!" Thor rumbled angrily.

Loki huffed a quiet laugh and turned back, but his expression was definitely not amused. "Is it not enough that those of Asgard mock my weaknesses, so you must give your mortal friends weapons to use against me as well?"

Thor furrowed his brow, then sighed. "Loki, you make no sense. I tell them only what they need to know. I try to foster some trust for you, as you will not make the effort for yourself!" He frowned at the younger. "....Loki, you have been different of late. Since you fell from the Bifröst, you have been different. Why is this so?"

"Why is this so?" Loki repeated with an incredulous tone. "Are you truly so thick?" He shook his head. "I find out I am a Frost Giant, you are banished from Asgard, and then my attempt to show Father I was a worthy son backfires most spectacularly and I fall into the clutches of the Chitauri. Do you not think a year in their company would not change me?"

Thor looked sad and stepped closer to Loki. "I cannot undo the past Loki, but I am trying to be a better brother to you now. Please, talk to me. What happened while you resided with the Chitauri?"

Loki turned aside. "It does not matter now, Thor. It is over and done with."

"It matters!" Thor finished closing the distance between them and put his hands on Loki's shoulders. "You fear them, and you brother, fear very little. For them to be able to cause you such fright..."

"I do not wish to speak of it, Thor!" Loki snapped and tried to push away, only for his back to thud into the wall he hadn't realized he had gotten close to. Thor pushed his advantage and stepped closer, pinning Loki.

"Brother, I only wish to help you."

"Then leave me be." Loki turned his face aside. "I do not wish to discuss it. Respect my wishes for once."

"Loki, please--"

"They tortured me, Odinson!" Loki looked back at him, green eyes blazing with chained magic. "Is that what you want to hear?! They tormented me in my sleep with dreams of flames and suffering the like of Mephisto's Hell or the forges of Muspelheim, driving in sharp blades made of fire to sear my flesh and when awakening feeling as if it was so real that my skin would blister! Dreams of cold voids of nothing, dreams of all my greatest fears, plucked and torn open before the one who so chained me! Only when I was deemed sufficiently cowed did they choose to put me to use, for not all layers of my mind could be breached by even that creature and they had need of my knowledge and skills. Is _this_ what you wanted to know of, Thor?!" Loki was shaking, tears streaming down his face.

Thor's expression was pained and he drew Loki close, enfolding him in his arms. "I will have them pay for these things, brother." Thor swore softly, a storm threatening in his eyes. "I will teach them what it means to harm one of the sons of Asgard."

"Oh _will_ you? How heartening."

"I will." Thor promised fiercely, touching his forehead to Loki's in a motion that was as familiar to one another as the halls of Asgard. "I promise, brother."

Loki exhaled heavily and closed his eyes for a few moments. "How fortunate I am to have such a valiant defender." He whispered.

Thor began to smile. "You are my brother."

"You are so honest in all things that you do." Loki said, not acknowledging Thor's words. "You cannot lie, and your face gives away all your thoughts. We are as different as night and day, yet never before that day in Jötunheim did I suspect I was anything other than your brother."

Thor's happy expression faded slightly. "Loki...."

"We are not brothers by blood Thor, but it would seem that we are still brothers by bond. Try as I might, I find I cannot be rid of you. Still....a part of me is glad for your stubborn determination."

".....Glad that I forced you to tell me of--"

"Yes....no. You mean well. I know that." Loki sighed heavily and stepped back. "I'm tired." He wiped at his eyes. "I am going to sleep."

"Then I will keep the nightmares at bay." Thor responded softly, but fiercely.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Dawn shone bright and clear, the sun refracting off countless windows and making it seem as if dozens of suns were rising in tandem. Loki however had no use for such pretty sights and indeed wasn't even present where he could see the sun rise.

He strode with a spell of invisibility though Tony's workshop until he stood before his objective; the Chitauri staff. He reached out slowly to touch it and run his hand over the gold of its shaft, though he kept well away from the blue gem in the head.

"Were you even bothering to try and hide it, Stark?" He mused quietly. "Or did you know it wouldn't do you any good to make the attempt?" He closed his hand over it, preparing to vanish it and replace it with a magical construct only for a flash of blue light to overwhelm his vision.

_"We have found you, Asgardian. Just as I told you we would."_

_Loki turned to find that his surroundings had shifted into the bleak coldness of space and his feet were now planted upon rocky soil. The Other stared back at him, his red teeth partially bared behind his mask._

_"Well," Loki said, his voice sounding calm enough as he stepped into the mindscape, wearing his armor, but not his gold horned helmet. "so it seems that you have indeed found me. Congratulations."_

_The Other seemed puzzled by how calm Loki was and he pressed his advantage, stepping toward the creature and extending the staff in his hand to point at the Other's face._

" _You are hunting me now, yes?" Loki spoke. "Except_ I _was not the one who failed. You promised me a formidable army, and instead I was given weaklings who couldn't--"_

_"You dare?!" The Other pushed the staff aside, hissing. "You would dare to insult--"_

_"I do dare!" Loki snapped, backing away and pointing the staff again. "I opened the gateway to your forces, and they were easily put down by a handful of humans. If anyone's faith has been betrayed, it has been my own! I held up my end of the deal, and it is your forces which failed to deliver. So I do dare. How dare_ you _come against me when I have been naught but an ally?"_

_The Other tilted his head, and then chuckled softly. "This goes beyond you, Asgardian. We have greater ambition than you continue to realize. You are merely a momentary issue."_

_Loki gave a brief, coldly amused smile before his expression became serious once more. "I would know how your forces managed to breach Asgard and obtain the Infinity Gauntlet. To do such a thing is supposed to be impossible." Without help, in any event._

_He thought the Other might have smiled in response to his query, but it was hard to tell what facial expressions the creature made behind the cage he wore. "You are not our only ally, and this one has already proven to be of far more use."_

The mindscape shattered abruptly and Loki jerked, straightening up and shaking out his head, squinting against the light.

Light?

Loki looked down to see his perfectly visible hand still closed over the staff, his illusion of invisibility apparently having worn off once he had been pulled into the mindscape. He then lifted his head and turned to see Tony, Thor and Steve regarding him.

"Oh." Loki released the staff and backed away from it, looking at them. "Well. This seems awkward."

"What were you doing, brother?" Thor rumbled warily, hefting Mjölnir in his hand.

"Ah..." Loki effected a puzzled expression and looked between the staff and them. "I seem to find myself in a similar state of confusion to you." He lied before letting very real worry come over his features, though the expression wasn't for the reason they were meant to think. "Mayhaps the Tesseract has yet more power over me than I had presumed, for I do not recall making my way down here at all."

They stared at him silently, every one well aware that he was a liesmith. Finally, Steve nodded.

"Okay." He said. "You were zoned out. What happened?"

Loki sucked on the inside of his bottom lip, wondering how long he had been stuck in that frozen state by the Other's powerful psychic ability. He allowed himself a shiver and turned slightly aside. "A reminder of why I am your ally, rather than your enemy." He looked back and inclined his head slightly to them. "Excuse me. There seems to be a matter I must attend to on Asgard." And before any of them could voice protest or further questions, he was gone.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Loki leaned against a wall within the halls of the palace and stared up at the ceiling for several minutes. The Other had been vague and Loki couldn't be certain, but if he had read him correctly, then the Chitauri's ally was another Asgardian. He didn't know how that was possible, since the Chitauri existed well outside Yggdrasil and had been an unknown to Asgard until Loki's actions had brought attention upon them. He didn't know where they originated from, so how could anyone else find them?

Except... He pushed away from the wall. There had been that strange energy he'd detected by the place the Bifröst chamber had opened up space. A weak point that could still be breached. He'd thought at first that the Chitauri had managed to open it on their side, but maybe that wasn't the case. The questions of how and why still lingered, but one thing at a time.

He looked down the hallways in the direction of the throne room, wondering if he should tell the Allfather of his suspicions. As soon as the thought formed however, he chuckled to himself and turned aside. No. If he warned Odin, then it would cause a realm-wide search, thereby tipping off the Chitauri's ally and ruining the element of surprise. No, such discovery had to be done quietly and no one knew how to be sneaky better than he.

He strode toward his room, intending to do some research to find a spell or potion to augment his own magic abilities for a time so he could take a proper look at the breach in space. When he reached his door and raised his hand to undo the magical lock he had placed on it however, he found that the lock had already been disengaged. Loki paused, frowning. He knew he'd put a lock on his door before leaving, which meant of course that someone else had broken the spell. He always used the most powerful locking spell he knew, so only someone close to or exceeding in his magical prowess could unlock it, for he would have sensed if the spell had been broken in any other way.

Loki stared at his door, considering. Karnilla could have done it, but she would have no reason to. Odin could with Gungnir, and he might have considering Loki's parting words to him the day before. If several strong casters worked together, they could get the job done too, but again, why?

He didn't know when the lock had been broken, but he would certainly see what might have been taken. Stepping the last few inches, he reached out to push open his door and stride in only to find Amora snapping upright in surprise from his desk where she'd been studying one of his tomes.

"L-Loki!" Amora shut the tome in such a careless way, Loki had to suppress a wince. He strode quickly toward her while she jumped to her feet and backed away, though she looked more wary than afraid.

"Amora." Loki situated himself between her and his bookcases, crossing his arms. "How did you get in here?"

She straightened up. "I'm about as powerful as you are, Loki. You think your lock spell could keep me out?"

Loki allowed a brief quirk of lip. "You think overmuch of yourself, Enchantress. Your potential might be on par with my own, but you fritter your studies into far more specialized channels." He tilted his head slightly. "What would my books hold that could _possibly_ be of use to one who would rather bewitch others into loving her than cast _true_ spells?"

Amora's green eyes flashed in anger. "You mistake me for my sister! Tis Lorelei who cares only for such magics, not I." She straightened up, then sighed. "It is no wonder you refused to be my teacher if you had such misconceptions as that."

Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The woman was so melodramatic, he could see why she needed spells to make anyone put up with her. "You're a crafty woman, Amora. One with quite the ambitions. You honestly think I am so foolish as to take one like _you_ as a student?" He uncrossed his arms. "Get out of my room."

"Oh, but Loki...." She moved toward him, swaying her hips and weaving a spell of seduction with subtle flicks of her fingers. "We are alike, you and I. Both scorned by our fellow Asgardians, both powerful magi with great ambitions." Her arms snaked around his neck as she pressed herself against him, voice dropping to a seductive whisper. "We would gain much more working together than apart." Her lips brushed his ear. "With me by your side, you could even have the throne of Asgard."

"Hm." Loki smiled in amusement and put his hands on her hips, easily shaking off her spell. "Oh, could I now?" He shoved her away suddenly, expression going from amused to irritated in a heartbeat. "Lay hands upon me again Amora, and I promise you that you will regret it. Now leave."

"Hmph." Amora flipped her hair over her shoulder and moved to stride past him. "Very well."

A twinge of instinct was all the warning Loki had before magic ripped though the spot he'd been a moment before, obliterating the double that had taken his place. He spun only to dodge another blast of magic, magic that held a very familiar sense to it indeed.

"The Tesseract!" Loki hissed, finally able to lay eyes on it balanced on Amora's hand. "Why do you have it?!"

Amora smiled a cold smile. "Skaði was a foolish old crone."

Loki eyed her carefully, moving warily around his desk. With the Tesseract in her hand, she could cast magic stronger and quicker than he could. "This is a little excessive, isn't it?" He questioned before quirking a smile. "Does my rejection really hurt that much, Amora? I have centuries on you. You're a bit young to be my type regardless."

Her eyes flashed and she blasted magic at him again, though once more, the magic hit a duplicate rather than him. "Filthy Jötun! Stand still!"

Loki laughed in surprise. "Jötun?" He glanced at his perfectly Asgardian-colored hands, then laughed again before he abruptly deadpanned. "Am I to assume by that comment that the poison was your doing as well?"

Amora didn't reply and began throwing magic blast after magic blast at him until she finally managed to get him square in the chest with one. The impact threw him backward with armor-shattering force into a wall with a sickening crunch and she advanced on him.

"I will be greatly rewarded once I deliver you to them." She gloated.

"Deliver me....to whom?" Loki tried to rise, but his ribs were having none of it and he sank back to the floor with a bit back groan of pain.

Amora laughed. "The Chitauri, of course." She brought her boot down hard on his back and agony ignited in Loki's body as cracked vertebrae and ribs cracked further.

His vision swam, then went dark completely and he knew no more.

\------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm getting real tired of your brother's shit, Thor!" Tony yelled through the communicator as he blasted a Chitauri backward with a repulsor blast.

"What are you speaking of?" Thor demanded in return. "Loki is not responsible for this!"

"He had his hand on the staff, and not ten minutes after he left, we've got Chitauri on our ass." Tony blasted another one through a wall. "I donno. Seems kinda fishy to me."

They hadn't been prepared, and that pissed Tony off the most. One moment they had been gathered together, waiting for breakfast to cook, and the next Stark Tower was being blasted with Chitauri weapons. Tony didn't know a man could run as fast as Steve did when he went bolting for his shield, though Bruce had actually been the first to act against the Chitauri. Though the treatments he and Tony had come up with made it harder to rile the Hulk, the threat of danger to Bruce's person still seemed to serve as a trigger and the Hulk was tearing his way through the shattered glass to leap at a couple of Chitauri standing on their odd hover craft before the rest of them had really started to get mobilized. Now they were scattered, trying desperately to drive the Chitauri back.

But drive them back to where? There was no hole in the sky, no sign of where they'd come from. Fortunately there were no giant eel things making their way through the sky, but that still left their situation pretty desperate. There were a lot of Chitauri, and Tony couldn't be sure, but...

"Hey," He called through the open line. "is it just me, or are these ugly bastards more bulked up than the last time?"

"I noticed that too." Steve responded, followed up by gunfire and a muted grunt. "Damn....they hit hard too."

"These creatures were able to infiltrate the most heavily fortified fortress in all the Nine Realms." Thor pointed out. "It seems to--" His line went dead with static.

"Thor?!" Steve and Tony called out to him in unison, even as a lightning bolt ripped through the sky.

"I think he fried his communicator." Natasha spoke, the only one sounding calm in the insane situation.

"Peachy." Tony muttered. "I'll have to see what I can do about that." A heavy weight landed on his back abruptly, nearly toppling him and Tony found himself twisting and jerking in his suit as the Chitauri tore away at the armor and sirens blared. "JARVIS! Full power to--" He cut off when the weight was abruptly yanked off of him and turned to see the Chitauri being wound up quickly in what appeared to be webbing. Tony blinked, but then smiled behind his helmet, shifting his gaze up.

"Hey, shouldn't you be in school or something?"

Spiderman stared back at him from where he was crouched on a lampost. "....You think there's school going on right now? Don't you know the whole island got an evac notice last night?"

"Uh, no...no one thought to tell me that, actually." Tony did a quick scan of the area, but other than the Hulk tearing things up in the distance, it seemed he was in the clear for now and he looked back at Spiderman. "How the hell does Manhattan get cleared out in less than 24 hours?"

"Carefully." Spiderman turned his head to regard the Chitauri he'd strung up, which had finally stopped moving. "So, these uglies are back, huh? They looked a lot smaller on the internet."

"They _were_ smaller the last time." Tony looked around again, wary of being jumped. "Look, I'm glad to have you around, but don't get cocky. I'd hate to have to write your aunt that you got squished by an alien bug. That's not the best thing to put on a eulogy either. Very undignified."

Spiderman jerked in surprise and stared at Tony from behind the dark lenses that protected his eyes. "......Yeah. Like you're one to talk about being cocky." He threw out a webbing line and swung off. Tony shook his head and huffed out a breath. He'd have to explain how he knew who the kid was later, but at least he'd taken him so off guard Spiderman hadn't thought of a witty quip before leaving. That was Tony's shtick, after all.

He turned away and fired his repulsors to go find and aid the Hulk. This was gonna be a long day.


	9. Suspicions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything's going to be a decidedly mixed bag from here on in with Norse mythology, comics, and movie. Nothing is quite canon anymore, if it ever was to start with. So just keep this in mind; while things that happen in this story might reference back to one of the aforementioned three, it might not necessarily be in the way that it actually happened.

Consciousness came slowly, and Loki remained very still while he felt out his surroundings. He was lying on something soft, and his head was pillowed by yet another soft thing. This wasn't Chitauri hospitality, but he was still very wary when he squinted his eyes open before finally relaxing when he saw a familiar and worried face hovering nearby.

"Mother." He greeted Frigga with obvious relief, allowing himself to smile.

"Loki." Frigga reached out to touch her youngest's face and leaned forward from where she sat on the edge of his canopy bed to get a good look at his eyes before finally smiling slightly and sitting back again. "I'm glad you are well, my son. You had us worried for a time. Do you remember what happened?"

Loki's expression darkened almost immediately. "Oh yes," He said softly. "I remember." He then launched into describing the details to Frigga, beginning with finding Amora in his room and ending with her saying she would hand him over to the Chitauri. Frigga sat silently during this, and by the end she was frowning faintly. Loki knew that expression, it was a look she'd worn many a time over the centuries when he would tell her something and she would be deciding whether or not to believe him. It had rankled in the past, and it was certainly no more welcome now.

He moved to sit up, finding he had to move slowly, as he was still injured, and ended up panting slightly by the time he was upright. "Mother--"

"Hush, Loki." Frigga's frown deepened. "....You said she attacked you with the Tesseract?"

Loki was heavily tempted to be sarcastic, but he resisted the urge and instead just gave her an aggrieved look.

"Skaði would never have given it to her."

Loki sighed heavily and continued with the same expression. "Clearly it wasn't given willingly. Amora attacked me, in my own room no less." His expression turned angry. "Or do you deny the pain I'm in?"

"I don't deny something happened, but--"

"So you doubt my word, _now_ of all times?!" He was tempted to try to leave even though every breath brought new twinges of pain through his not quite healed ribs and back. He grit his teeth and put a hand to the bandaging that healers had no doubt put on him. "Speak to Skaði then, Mother. See what _she_ has to say on the matter."

Frigga stared at him for several moments, then nodded and stood. "Abide, Loki. I will return soon."

Loki sat back gingerly, wincing and wishing he didn't feel like he'd been Hulk smashed all over again. He glanced around at what he could see of his room as if to ensure he was alone before finally relaxing. While he waited for Frigga to return, he went back over the earlier situation in his mind and also noted the way Frigga had reacted to his tale, telling him clearly that no one had seen that Amora had been the one to attack him. Had she been startled into leaving suddenly, and that was why he wasn't back in the clutches of the Other? Or had her threat been a bluff meant to worry him?

He closed his eyes and gave a soft sigh. That didn't matter. What did was that he was still on Asgard. Still, the Tesseract in Amora's hands, that could spell a great deal of trouble indeed. She had too much ambition but not enough control and the Tesseract was awake. Who knew what would happen with it held by her, or worse if it reached the hands of the Other and his master? Loki shuddered to think of it.

Frigga took a long time to return, much longer than Loki had assumed she would and by the time she re-entered his quarters, he was fully dressed again, bandaging set aside and magically repairing his armor. He glanced up when she stepped in, then paused when he saw the distressed expression on her face. "Mother?"

"Skaði is dead. Her head has been.....hacked from her neck." She swallowed thickly and averted her eyes from him. Though she was a brave woman by Asgard's usual standards, she was no warrior and gore was a little much.

Loki's brows furrowed, and then he set aside his armor and stood. Frigga's wording had been deliberate. _Hacked_ , chopped at multiple times. No finesse to the murder then, not one trained in combat who could have had the deed done in one blow. He went to her and put his hands on her shoulders, looking at her. "Mother." He spoke softly, but then hesitated and drew back again. ".....You think I did this, don't you?" If she doubted him, if the one person besides Thor who had kept faith in him turned away from him now.....

Frigga lifted her eyes to look at him, eyes searching his expression. After several moments, she reached up to cup his face in her hands. "You didn't do this, Loki." She said firmly.

Loki smiled thinly, though he looked relieved. "I'm glad _someone_ around here still holds faith in me." He pulled back from her grasp. "I seem to be healed, Mother. I should return to Midgard. Thor is likely to have become quite distressed without me to tell him what to do."

Frigga gave him an exasperated look, an expression of a mother who is used to her children ribbing each other. She then held up her hands and two golden apples appeared. "One for you, and one for your brother." She explained.

"Idunn's apples...." Loki reached out to take them with unabashed reverence. They had almost mythic power, even to the Asgardians, allowing for the near instant recovery from injury and giving extra endurance and vitality. Eating but a small amount could restore strength for hours, while eating the entire apple gave enhanced senses for days. They were precious gifts indeed, doled out only in times of war. He gave her a puzzled look.

Frigga nodded. "This is a war, is it not?" She asked softly, making eye contact with him. "These Chitauri threaten the Nine Worlds and beyond, yes?"

"......Yes." Loki frowned faintly, vanishing the fruits. "But does Idunn know you intended them for a Jötun's hands? No, of course she didn't." He moved away to pick up and put on his armor. "She would not have--"

"Loki." Frigga didn't raise her voice, but he stopped mid-sentence anyway. She moved to his side and put a hand on his arm. "What is this suddenly?"

Loki exhaled softly and closed his eyes for several moments before he shook his head. He didn't want to admit that Amora's spiteful words toward that side of his heritage had hurt, though he admitted to himself that Sif's much earlier contemptuous utterance of the same had hurt far more. ".....A childish flare up, that's all."

Frigga reached up to cup his cheek in her hand, turning his head toward her. "Take pride in the part of you that is Frost Giant, Loki." She instructed gently. "They were once a noble people."

He jerked away from her touch as if burned. "They're savages. Monsters. Noble? Such lies are beneath you, Mother."

Frigga looked at him sadly, clasping her hands before herself. "....Do you remember the story I would tell you and Thor about the great giant, Byleistr, who heroically cleaved Svartalfheim from Alfheim with an axe stolen from the forges of Muspelheim so as to end the war between the elves?"

Loki finished putting on his armor and looked at her in wary curiosity. "....Yes, I remember the story. Thor seemed to find it inspiring."

"The tale is true, and Byleistr was a Frost Giant."

Loki snorted softly. "Don't try to placate me with fables, Mother."

Frigga's expression seemed to sadden further, knowing her youngest son would not likely react well to her next words. ".....It was also said that Byleistr was the firstborn son of Laufey."

Loki stared at her, paling as the significance of that sunk in. He took a half step back, an almost panicked expression crossing over his features before he abruptly vanished to the dark paths and their comforting black.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Tony groaned softly and took another swig of whiskey. They'd been fighting for hours and now the others were chowing down on the various contents of Tony's fridge in one of the lounge rooms while he was hanging out at his bar trying to drink himself into a stupor, or at least get drunk enough so the pain of his wrenched knee and twisted ankle would be diminished.

Natasha had a concussion and Steve had a dislocated shoulder, but inside his suit, Tony had only been in mild discomfort and hadn't known how bad it was until he'd tried to fly, which had ended very quickly with him on the ground screaming in pain. Thor, who had gotten a glancing blast from a Chitauri weapon to the side as well as various other more minor injuries, had ended up having to carry him back to the locked down Stark Tower. Out of all of them, Bruce and Spiderman were the only ones who were uninjured and then only on account of the Hulk being able to take more damage than probably all of them combined and Spiderman being quicker than the bulked up Chitauri.

"Are you seriously trying to get drunk _now_?"

Tony looked up, arching a brow as Spiderman walked into the area. "After a morning like that, I think I've earned the right to some pain relief. What's up?"

Spiderman leaned on the counter and crossed his arms, staring at him silently from behind his dark lenses. ".....You mentioned my aunt earlier." He intoned finally.

"Did I?" Tony threw back the rest of his drink and set the glass down. "You shouldn't let yourself get shaken up so easily, Petey. Someone could use that against you."

"It's happened." Peter shrugged, paused and then pulled his mask off. "How'd you know it was me?"

Tony crossed his arms and gave him a bit of a look. "Kiddo, you interned here for half a year and I even showed you a bit how JARVIS works. If you'd wanted to keep it a secret from me, you shouldn't have changed into your costume while still in the shadow of the tower."

Peter uncrossed his arms to put a hand on his hip. "Dang, pops. You're like Big Brother or something."

"Only where JARVIS is installed, and don't call me 'pops'." Tony grimaced. "If I had a kid like you, I'd have gray hairs."

"You _do_ have gray hairs." Peter smirked, but then sobered again. "So, the Chitauri....any idea what's up with that?"

"Sort of, though we don't know as much as I'd like; such as how they popped up outta nowhere, why they look like they've been hitting the gym and how they suddenly vanished again." Tony grabbed the crutch Bruce had dug out of the medical supplies for him. "Come on, lets have a proper pow wow on this."

"Wow. Little ole me getting to talk strategy with the Avengers." Peter pulled his mask back on. "It's like a fanboy's wet dream."

"As far as I'm concerned, you're an honorary Avenger....at least until this mess gets dealt with. Do a good enough job and I'll even write a glowing review for you to pass on to Fury."

"That would be awesome....hey, do you think Cap would sign my Captain America trading cards? I haven't got the full set, but--"

Tony frowned. ".....I'd be careful asking him to do that. The last person who asked ended up getting himself killed." And they were working with the bastard who'd done the deed, too. Being reminded of that set Tony's teeth on edge. Where the hell _was_ Loki, anyway?

They joined the others in the lounge and Tony levered himself down slowly before reaching out for a slice of pizza. "Where'd this come from?"

"Freezer downstairs. You've got a bunker's worth down there." Steve explained before looking at Thor and smiling slightly in amusement while the Asgardian ate. "Most of them have been going into him, though."

"Cripes." Tony took a bite, then grimaced slightly. Whiskey and pizza didn't seem to work well together.

"Listen." Bruce, fully dressed and looking rather anxious, leaned forward. "You three seriously need to be flown to a hospital. I've done what I can, but Natasha could have a serious concussion and Steve's shoulder--"

"It hurts, but you and Natasha managed to get it back into joint." Steve interrupted, though his tone was soothing, not wanting Bruce to get too upset and Hulk out again, especially so soon. He glanced down, fussing with the sling holding his arm still. "I've got enhanced healing, so I'm sure I'll be fine soon." He looked at Natasha, who was obviously putting forth an effort to stay awake. "Nat on the other hand...." He nodded. "Yeah, she should probably be taken to a hospital."

"I'll be fine." Natasha protested, slanting her eyes at Steve. "It's already easing off. Trust me, it's taking care of itself."

Steve arched a brow at her. "....How?"

Natasha smiled. "Коммерческая тайна, дорогой."

Steve blinked at her before chuckling softly. "I don't speak Russian."

"I know. That would be the point."

Tony choked down the rest of the pizza slice and looked to his comrades. "Okay, look. We got seriously trounced today. Those Chitauri have majorly bulked up since the last time. It's great that S.H.I.E.L.D managed to evac everyone before this went down," He nodded to Natasha. "but we've got....well alright, Natasha says she'll be okay, Thor's healing as fast as he's eating my pizzas and you say you'll be alright too Cap, so really it's just me out of the fight, but.....this is ridiculous."

"I agree, my friend." Thor spoke up. absently rubbing the healing burn on his side as if it itched. "This situation broods most dire indeed."

"And where the hell is Loki?!" Tony motioned at Thor with his crutch. "I'd bet he brought them down on us."

Thor scowled at him. "You said that before, and I still do not agree."

"And I say it's--"

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait!" Peter made an 'X' with his arms while Natasha partially covered her ears in reaction to the noise. "New guy here. Mind filling me in?"

So Tony did, showing Peter the recordings of Loki's explanation of the Infinity Gauntlet and gems, as well as informing him that the previous Chitauri attack had been the Trickster's doing.

Peter scratched his head though his mask, and then sighed heavily. "Man. He really went off the rails, didn't he?" He shook his head. "Well anyway, this is definitely some serious nasty. Think maybe the Gauntlet of Shiny Gems has something to do with those Chitauri being all bodybuilder all of a sudden?"

"......This kid...." Tony shook his head slightly. "It's as good a theory as any, Pete. That doesn't really help our current situation, though."

"Yeah, I guess not." Peter pulled his mask up enough to expose his mouth so he could get in on the pizza eating. "But what about Loki? Why did he cause the other Chitauri attack, and why'd he switch sides? I mean," He gestured with his free hand. "I read up on him a while back, but that was a couple of years ago and well....that's mythology and it's kinda confusing."

Steve, Tony and Thor all respectively gave him strange looks, but before they could ask their no doubt burning questions, JARVIS interrupted with a holographic image of the very topic of conversation appearing in the partially demolished front room and looking around in what appeared to be nervous surprise.

"Aaand speak of the Devil." Tony commented, reaching for another slice of pizza. "Light up a path for him, JARVIS. Maybe he'll give us some answers." They watched--Steve visibly unsettled by the surveillance--as JARVIS lit up a series of holographic arrows that Loki obediently followed once he noticed them until he was led to where they were all situated.

"How very clever of you to use florescent arrows to lead a Norse God." Loki commented sarcastically as he entered the room. He paused briefly when he saw Spiderman, and then to the surprise of everyone, he gave him a respectful nod before turning his attention to Tony. "You're like the Gatekeeper of Asgard, Stark. You must truly have some observational power within this structure."

Tony shrugged noncommittally, not about to admit to anything, let alone that Loki might be suspecting he saw what went on between him and Thor the other day. "So, where the hell were you while we were being steamrolled by your former army, huh?"

"Oh, is that what happened?" Loki gave a twisted smile. "Not that it would have been your business, but I'd told you; I went to Asgard."

"How convenient for you." Tony sat forward, only to jerk and hiss in pain when he jostled his knee. He pressed on anyway, though his expression was now pale and drawn. "So you just _happened_ to need to go home just before we're attacked, and only _happen_ to come back just after we've gotten settled back here?"

"In fact, yes!" The sudden anger that suffused Loki's expression had them all tensing automatically. "I have been nothing but generous, and you _continue_ to repay my kindness with disrespect!" A gold staff inset with silver runes appeared in his hands, extending from two feet to six with a twist of the wrist and then spinning it too quickly for them to react, he brought the weapon down, halting it just before it would have smashed into Tony's chest and leaving it hovering over the glowing circle of the arc reactor with the runes glowing faintly. The wind from its passage ruffled hair, disturbed clothing and sent papers skittering to the floor.

"Loki!" Thor shot to his feet, upsetting the plate he'd had on his lap and spilling its contents onto the floor. On either side of him, Natasha and Steve were tensed, and Bruce was clenching his fists, eyes ominously narrowed.

A thick strand of webbing affixed to the staff between Loki's hands and Peter yanked, expecting to pull the staff from Loki's grasp, only to end up jerking himself off balance. He managed to recover with some dignity. "Hey. That's enough."

Loki glanced at Peter, then down at Tony, who was sitting very still and barely daring to breathe. He tapped the arc reactor warningly with the staff before he obligingly lifted it away, then raised a hand to grasp the webbing and burn it up in green fire. Finally, he set the butt of the staff on the floor and looked at Peter again. "I acknowledge you trying to protect one of your allies Spiderman, but I would caution you not to push me."

"Don't push _me_ either, Loki." Bruce growled, drawing everyone's attention to him. He still looked mostly himself, except for the veins bulging in his neck and slightly brighter eyes.

Loki put a hand up immediately, and with a flick he retracted the staff's length before vanishing it, looking at Bruce fully for the first time. "Peace, Banner. He is unharmed. I only warn."

"Well..." Bruce cracked his neck, straightening up slowly. "So do we."

".....Heh." Loki smiled uncertainly. "Duly noted." He slid one foot behind the other. "Mayhaps I should return later?"

"No." Bruce took a deep breath and shut his eyes, lips moving slightly as he mentally counted, forcing himself to calm down. Once he reached twenty, he opened his eyes again. "What did you need on Asgard that kept you away for so long?"

Loki pursed his lips and subtly shifted his posture away, sliding back from all of them slowly until he was out of immediate grabbing range by anyone but Peter. "I was attacked." His eyes flicked to Thor. "Brother. Amora killed Skaði, her head divorced most brutally from her neck by Mother's telling. The damn harpy has the Tesseract and she attacked me with it." He put a hand to his chest. "If the guard hadn't heard the battle, I may well have been returned all unwilling to the Chitauri."

Thor's eyes narrowed and he took a step closer to Loki, hand drifting to Mjölnir on his belt. "How could Amora do such a thing, Loki? Skaði is--was--a powerful spellcaster, and Amora's ways well-known. She would have been on guard against such an attack."

"How would I be knowing the details? I did not see the body; Mother did." Loki's own eyes narrowed and his tone turned caustic. "Though if it consoles thy wary heart, Mother did not at first believe me either." A hand curled into a fist. "I weary of this, Thor. Have not I served my penance? What would I gain now by lies? What _now_ do the untruths serve me?"

"The more you try to convince me of your innocence, the more I come to believe the opposite." Thor responded.

Loki straightened up slightly, his expression incredulous. ".....Oh, how I would be quit of you." Something in his expression shifted and he became impassive, the clenched fist relaxing. He brought that hand up and conjured one of the golden apples to toss to the older. "A gift from the Allmother." He stated flatly as Thor scrambled to catch it. "Use it as you will, Thor. Amora aids the Chitauri. She holds the Tesseract. Choose what you wish to believe, and do so at your potential peril. I wash my hands of this." With that, he turned to go.

"Loki, wait." Steve pushed himself to his feet with his good arm as Loki actually paused and half turned back to look at him. "You're right; you _have_ been putting up with a lot of high-hat and flak from us, and that's been unfair when you've been doing so much to help us. Until you give us a real reason to believe otherwise, I for one am willing to call you an ally and a comrade."

"'High-hat'?" Tony repeated with a groan. " _Seriously_ , Steve? Did you forget what decade you're in again?"

Steve shot him a sharp glance, then returned his attention to Loki, who was staring at him. The Aesir trickster smiled after a few moments, a surprisingly warm expression compared to the cynical and twisted manner he had been gracing them with until then.

"Come Captain, walk with me. This room has become somewhat....claustrophobic." The smile faded. "Or don't. It's up to you." He turned once again to leave and with a look and a one-shouldered shrug to the others, Steve followed. He'd extended the olive branch as it were, so he had to show that he meant it.

Loki was waiting for him outside the door, though he seemed mildly surprised when Steve actually moved to join him and he started walking down the hallway at a leisurely pace, Steve coming to walk in automatic lockstep with him.

"Tell me what happened, if you would." Loki said after a few moments. "In brief."

So Steve told him of how the flyers persistently attacked the tower, which Tony had quickly locked down with heavy blast shielding coming down over every window and obvious weak spot. How the ground forces had been bulked up and seemed taller than he remembered them as having been. Of the notable lack of the flying eel creatures and how their forces, defeated and non had suddenly vanished into thin air after approximately three and a half hours of constant fighting.

They had reached the front room by this time and Loki paced slowly, looking at the scattered debris, his eyes continuing to return to the bronzed place in the floor that marked where his body had lain after being whipped about like a toy by the Hulk. He finally wandered to Tony's bar and picked up a snifter to look at it curiously before setting it back down again and turning to face Steve.

"That was a test." He stated. "They wanted to test your mettle, and now no doubt believe they have the measure of you. It may well be much worse next time." He stepped closer. "But let me be certain that I understand this. You said they focused on the tower and had to be led away?"

"Yes." Steve affirmed.

Loki's gaze drifted upward to the ceiling. "Were they focusing on any part of the tower in particular, or did it seem that they were attempting to topple it?"

Steve frowned as he thought about it, and finally shook his head. ".....JARVIS, do you know?"

_"The Chitauri forces appeared to have been targeting the eighth level workshop, Captain Rogers."_

"Targeted, but not breached?" Loki asked.

"JARVIS?" Steve prompted when the A.I didn't respond.

_".....That is correct. Security measures were enacted to prevent the breach."_

"Just as expected, then."

Steve arched a brow. "You expected this?"

"I knew it might happen." Loki folded his arms behind his back. "It would only make sense for them to want the scepter, since it is connected to the Tesseract." He frowned faintly. "On that note, I think it may be for the best that Stark be the only one to handle it, since that device in his chest apparently shields his heart."

"Because of what happened earlier, before you went to Asgard?"

"Precisely."

Steve nodded. "Alright. So, what can you tell me about the Chitauri? Aside from them being bulked up, I mean. Do they have particular tactics you know they favor? Any especially exploitable weaknesses?"

Loki tilted his head at him, and then slowly smiled. "I was wondering when you would get around to that, Captain. Unfortunately, there isn't much I can tell you." He shifted to gesture with a hand almost flippantly. "They are commanded by a Queen, as they operate much like your Earth ants or termites. Kill the Queen, and they collapse."

"Like what Iron Man did with the nuke...."

"Mm. I wouldn't know. I was a bit busy collecting myself from being thrown about like a used rag." Loki's eyes narrowed slightly and he pursed his lips. "The Queens are beyond your reach this time, however. You've fought them, so you know their battle tactics. I was only to let them through, not understand how they fought."

"This probably won't help, but....what's the world they're from called?"

Loki shook his head. "They kept me rather in the dark on many matters, which I admit was very smart of them." He paused and his expression turned thoughtful. "However, I could attempt dowsing...."

"Dowsing?" Steve repeated. "Like using a forked stick to find water?"

Loki arched his brows at him, then chuckled softly. "Perhaps divining would be a more accurate way of saying it, then." An emerald dowsing pendulum appeared in his hand and he let it drop from its chain, from which it began to swing wildly before Loki caught it with his other hand and forced it to still, letting go of it again after a few moments where it shuddered on the end of the chain. ".....Well, this is my pendulum, though it seems to be having problems at the moment."

Steve looked a little dubious, and also wary of the almost alive-seeming crystal. "That will help you to figure out where the Chitauri are coming from?"

"Not easily, but it can be done....provided they hail from somewhere within your mapped galaxy." Loki looked up from the shuddering pendulum to Steve. "I will need a map of any well-seen planetary bodies." He paused, and then smiled, yanking up the pendulum and vanishing it. "Actually, I know exactly where I may be able to get one. Though, before I go off, would you like me to heal your injuries?"

"......I'll be alright," Steve said. "But if you wouldn't mind helping Tony, that would probably be a good idea."

"Hm." Loki smiled smugly. "If he'll accept the price." He stepped swiftly past Steve to return and re-enter the lounge.

"What price?" Tony asked without preamble, revealing as Loki had suspected, that he knew what went on inside Stark Tower.

Loki's smile was just short of outright malicious as he looked down at Tony's sitting form. "Knowing there is a price already answers something I suspected, but though I would love to give you an example of what I think of spies, that is not the price. Oh." He looked at Thor, giving him a significant look. "He spied on us while we were alone yesterday, brother."

Thor looked clueless, but then understanding lit his eyes and he looked sharply at Tony. "Is this true?!"

The betrayal in Thor's tone made Tony wince and he squirmed a bit. He looked at Loki, whos eyes seemed to be glowing. "Look, you were angry at Thor and I was concerned you might attack him. That's it."

"I'm sure." Loki said, sounding distinctly unconvinced and decidedly menacing.

"Whatever incestuous business that goes on is your business, alright?" Tony then got a look like he'd swallowed a frog as both Thor and Loki moved to loom over him.

"Incest is for humans." Loki growled softly. "Is being affectionate with one's brother incestuous to you humans now besides?" He straightened up. "But that isn't the price. No," He leaned forward and tapped the circle of light through Tony's shirt. "I want to know about this."

Tony batted Loki's hand away and covered the arc reactor protectively. "Trade secret."

"Well," Loki straightened up. "I suggest you reconsider, because my alternate way of finding out would be, I think, decidedly less pleasant for you." And then he was gone.

"Can't he just use a door like a normal person?" Tony groused. "Where the hell has he gone off to this time?!"

"Based on what he was saying about wanting a map of our galaxy," Bruce said slowly. "I would guess he's after a star map--so, maybe NASA or an observatory somewhere?"

"Great." Tony rubbed his face tiredly. " _That's_ not going to cause an international incident or anything...."

Natasha let out a sound of frustration and pulled out her phone. Fury would need to know about this latest development, and he was definitely not going to be pleased about it.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Erik Selvig rubbed his eyes tiredly and yawned. It was about 4:24am in Hawaii and he'd been out on the summit of Mauna Kea since midnight, staring up through the telescope at the sky. With a storm starting to roll in, he was buttoning down the observatory for the day. Looking up as the dome slid shut, he didn't notice the shadow that crossed his, nor notice that he was no longer alone until a hard, blunt object prodded him in the back.

"Boo." The familiar and dreaded voice that had plagued his nightmares for months, intoned.

Selvig's heart stuttered, failed and then flailed desperately back into rhythm. He didn't dare move and a part of him prayed that he had simply fallen asleep in the observation chair, that this was but a horrible dream.

"Now now, there's no need to give me such a cold welcome." Loki chuckled lowly at the man's bald-faced terror as he circled around him. "I require your assistance."

Selvig swallowed thickly, unable to form a reply and Loki chuckled again before moving back and beginning to walk the circumference of the dome interior, tossing and catching the throwing knife he'd been holding the handle of against Selvig's back. "Finding you was easy enough, though finding you in an observatory is even better than I could have hoped. It's perfect really."

Selvig watched him, slowly relaxing as Loki got further away, though knowing what he did of the Trickster's abilities, he was well aware that distance was no promise of safety. "What do you want, Loki?"

"I need a map of the sky." Loki said. "But the problem, of which I am well aware, is that it is a very large sky." He stopped tossing the dagger, holding it lightly, blade-first between two fingers and looked across at Selvig, eyes glittering in the dim room. "So I would ask you; did the Tesseract tell you or in any way indicate where the Chitauri were located?"

Selvig blinked at him. ".....No." He said slowly. "It knew the way. I didn't need to."

Loki hissed and turned away, looking at the walls of the observatory as if they would somehow hold the answers he sought. "I seek a world with several moons. Thick atmosphere, perhaps yellowish dun in coloration. At least one moon having an atmosphere, yellow or orange in color. Also of thick atmosphere." He looked back at Selvig again, showing some signs of agitation. "Have the space viewers of this world found anything like that?"

Selvig frowned, furrowing his brows as he thought about this a lot harder than he really needed to. Loki needed to find a world matching that description, and he'd mentioned the Chitauri, so he was searching for them? Selvig shuddered and thought about refusing to help. But if he didn't, Loki would definitely kill him, and if he did....if he did, maybe he'd get to live long enough to alert S.H.I.E.L.D at least.

"There are dozens of planets that have been discovered so far matching that description." Selvig spoke quickly now, as Loki looked like he had begun to lose his patience. "It would take time. I would have to compile a list...."

"Fine. Do so." Loki waved his hand dismissively, but then focused on Selvig intently. Slowly he smiled and Selvig locked his knees as the strong urge to faint overcame him. "You intend to tell S.H.I.E.L.D about this visit. Go ahead, Erik. Go right ahead. Just make sure you get my task done, the sooner the better. S.H.I.E.L.D will know where to send the information on, I'm sure. You have a week. If you don't have what I need by then, don't think that S.H.I.E.L.D can hide you from me." He faded away slowly, his eyes glowing malevolently until they hovered alone for several moments before they too vanished.

Selvig gave in to the urge to swoon then and collapsed to his hands and knees, slowly easing back to a sit and keeping his head low as he tried not to hyperventilate.

What hope was there for any of them if Loki found what he wanted? Yet, what choice did Selvig have? He put his head in his hands and heard thunder rumble outside, which reminded him--where was Thor if Loki was running about free? If Thor was about, then maybe there would be hope after all and if anyone knew where Thor was, it would be S.H.I.E.L.D. So Loki was right, he would definitely be getting in contact with them and he was definitely having them get him in contact with Thor.


	10. Conflicts

"Selvig, my friend!" Thor smiled widely and lifted his arms as if he would embrace the man, though he understood that what he saw before him was a projection from another place. That didn't make the gesture any less important in Thor's eyes, however.

Selvig smiled tiredly back at him. "It's good to see you, Thor." He said. "You seem well."

"Well enough." Thor agreed. He lowered his arms and his expression became more serious. "You do not look so well yourself, however. What ails you, my friend?"

"Ah." Selvig chuckled softly. "I'm just tired. I've been up all night and haven't had a chance to get to bed yet. I wanted to talk to you first." He took a deep breath and sat up in the chair he was sitting in. "I asked S.H.I.E.L.D to get me in contact with you. Loki came here not long ago."

"Loki did?" Thor frowned deeply. "He did not harm you, did he?"

Selvig smiled slightly and the image distorted briefly as thunder rumbled on his end of the line. "No, he just gave me a scare. He wanted me to find...." He trailed off and frowned.

"My friend?" Thor looked at him in concern.

"Ah, sorry." Selvig pinched the bridge of his nose. "Tired." He shook his head out and then focused on Thor again. "Loki wanted me to find a planet with a thick, yellowish atmosphere and several orbiting moons. He also mentioned at least one of the moons having an atmosphere with yellow or orange coloration." He repositioned himself on the chair. "I think he's looking for the Chitauri home world."

"Oh...yes." Thor nodded slowly. "We knew he wished to locate them, though I swear I did not think he would go after you." Thor spread his hands in a helpless gesture, though his expression was frustrated. "You may be assured that I will speak with Loki on the matter. With Mjölnir if needed."

Selvig stared at him and then rubbed his eyes. "I think I'd like to know what's going on. Not now," He continued quickly. "I think I'll call back later once I've had some sleep."

"Of course, my friend." Thor smiled to him. "Sleep well."

The feed cut and Thor wandered away from where the projection had hovered. Loki had been gone for about an hour, and Thor wondered what he could be up to. If he had completed his business with Selvig, then what was he doing now? Thor sighed heavily and shook his head. It was true that Loki hadn't seemingly done anything truly terrible, but he was still leaning more in the direction of the mean side of mischief. Thor wanted to trust his brother, but Loki was making that very hard and now there was this latest development.

Thor paused in the hallway and scowled. If Loki had gone after Jane, then by Yggdrasil's roots, he was going to give his brother such a beating he'd wish the Hulk had taken another go at him.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Tony spun the stylus tool between his fingers. "You know, this is really bugging me."

"Hm?" Bruce looked up from his microscope's display screen. "What is?"

"Loki. He gets a hold of the staff, but then hands it over to me and even tells Steve he thinks I'm the only one who should handle it. He's feeding us all this stuff on that Gauntlet...." Tony waved his hand. "Claims to be all against the Chitauri, but conveniently isn't here when they attack both here and on Asgard. This all stinks worse than backed up sewage."

Bruce looked amused. "How do you know what backed up sewage smells like?"

"Camping trip once when I was a kid. Didn't go well. Never forgot that smell." Tony shook his head.

"Right." Bruce looked back at the microscope's images. "I think you might be overreacting a little."

"Overreacting? This coming from the guy who'd said Loki was a bag of cats?"

Bruce smiled faintly. "Oh, I still think he's seriously unhinged, but as far as we know he hasn't killed anyone yet, so that's an improvement at least."

"So, what? We wait for him to kill someone before we start watching ourselves? He can pop in and out whenever he wants, and he's doing who the hell knows what right now. JARVIS can only track him when he's inside the building and unless I can get a tracer on him...."

"The one he's got the biggest problem with right now is you." Bruce pointed out. "But if you're really worried, then have Steve talk to him. Loki seems to have decided he likes him."

"Well of course he likes Steve." Tony tapped the electronic component he was fiddling with. "Steve still comes off as being really gullible."

"Except, he isn't. So let Steve take care of it. He seems to know how to deal with egomaniacs pretty well."

"Ha ha, very funny." Tony motioned with his chin at the microscope. "So, what's got you staring so hard?"

"It's the hemoglobins. They're like nothing I've ever seen before. Their oxygen-carrying capacity is at least double ours, but without really changing in size, and the composition changes when you lower the temperature enough. They go from iron composition to copper and have antifreeze properties." Bruce shook his head. "I don't even understand how that's possible."

Tony's eyebrows went up. "Wow...that's Loki's blood?"

"The sample you got off of the roof, yes."

"Oh, this I need to see." Tony moved off the stool he'd been sitting on, only to collapse with a yell of pain.

"Tony?!" Bruce moved to his side almost immediately. "What--?"

"My g-goddamn leg." Tony hissed through his teeth. "F-Forgot about it. Aaarh, _fuck_! Help me up." When Bruce helped him to his feet, he braced himself on his worktable, hissing in pain and trying not to faint.

"Tony." Bruce put a hand on his back. "Maybe you should think about going to the hospital when the supplies get here. There's only so much I can do for you here."

"Yeah, maybe." Tony shakily reached out to grab the crutch and lean on it instead of the worktable. "Maybe they can fix my leg."

"Mmm.....I think that might be a bit drastic, but I still strongly recommend you get a professional to look at it."

"Or maybe I can just bargain with Loki, since he said he could heal it."

Bruce arched a brow. "You were just saying how you don't trust him, and now you want him to work magic on you?"

"Hey, what can I say? I live on the edge." Most of the pain reduced to a throbbing, Tony hobbled over to the microscope and leaned down to take a look. "Wow. Just as impressive the second time around." He looked over to Bruce. "So, what do you think the chances of one of us convincing Thor to let us take some blood for comparison? Because if this kind of thing could be duplicated or synthesized--" He was interrupted by a beeping and then a holoscreen popped up, displaying some images.

Tony blinked and straightened up, then he arched a brow and smiled crookedly. "Well, isn't _that_ interesting?"

\------------------------------------------------------------

Loki didn't return until late evening, and when he did, he was clearly tired. That might have been what caused his delayed reaction when he found Thor barreling down on him.

"Brother!" Thor called to him. "I would have words with thee!"

Loki spread his arms out and smiled cynically, knowing Thor's temper when he saw it. "Then have your words brother, and we--hrk!" He had expected Thor to surge up to him and stop, but instead the older God grabbed him by the neck and swung him around to slam back-first into the nearest wall.

"Selvig is under my protection, Loki." Thor rumbled, thunder rolling outside punctuating his words. "Do not go near him again, or you will know my anger."

"I do not already?" Loki winced when Thor squeezed and he brought up a hand to grip the other's vambrace. "Fine! I thought perhaps he might have the information I sought, but he did not. If he is under your _protection_ , then you would know if I had harmed him. I did not do so!"

"Stay away from him." Thor repeated. "Stay away from Jane as well."

"Your precious mortal waif? What cause would I have to bother with her?"

"I remember your threat in the Bifröst chamber, Loki. Do not think I would have forgotten it."

"Oh, such an irony!" Loki smiled coldly. "As I recall, all I said was that I would 'pay her a visit'. It was you who construed threat in it--as you were meant to, of course." His smile faded and his expression became serious. "Though I also recall having corrected your assumptions of our brotherhood, as well."

"You _are_ my brother, Loki. Blood or no, you are my brother. It does not please me to find myself at odds with you, but you _will_ obey me on this!" Thor squeezed the younger's throat again for emphasis.

Loki coughed and narrowed his eyes. ".....I've already gotten my answers."

"What?" The storm crackled in Thor's eyes. "What did you do, Loki?!"

"Heh." The smile came back briefly. "I spoke with her, that's all. A few days ago now. I wanted to know what made her so special, why you would listen to her rather than me." He smiled a cold and bitter smile. "She made you think of Sif, didn't she? She knew what I was, knew what I could do, and she still spoke so.....arrogantly to me."

The storm within Thor's eyes was loosed, and the heavens opened up in torrential rainfall outside. ".......Where were you earlier?"

"Aside from speaking with Selvig, I suppose? I was in Asgard."

"Again?" Thor finally let go of Loki and stepped back. "Whyfor?"

"Hn..." Loki slipped sideways and moved away from the wall, rubbing his throat. "The same reason as before, but this time I didn't get attacked, so I was able to conclude my business."

Thor furrowed his brows and frowned. "Which was what, Loki?"

"Looking for a way to strengthen my magic for a time to aid in divining the location of the Chitauri." Loki paced away from Thor. "But I found nothing of use. My guess is what I seek would be kept in the Allfather's possession, out of my reach."

"If Father knew you needed them--" Thor began.

Loki snorted. "Self-centered as always. _You_ could have the sun and moon if you implied you wanted them, but _I_ must cajole and beg for the barest scraps!" He looked back at Thor with a disgusted expression. "Odin would never give me access to those books."

Thor was the one who looked tired now and he sighed softly. "You lie to yourself as much as you lie to others, brother." Thor spoke wearily. "You have wanted for nothing in growing up alongside me. Magic tomes were always for you to access if you asked for them, weapons suiting of you crafted immediately at your request. We are together Princes, Loki. Do not pretend you are less."

Loki had stopped pacing during Thor's monologue and stood, staring at him with growing incredulousness. "......As always, you see only what you choose to see. Yes, I could have tomes, but always the ones freely given were well below my level and I would have to sneak in order to find the ones of any use. Yes, I was given my daggers and fine staff when I demanded that weapons be made for me, but do you know the _scorn_ I had to endure, asking for such 'pitiful' weaponry?" He pointed at Thor, eyes narrowing, and the temperature sharply dropped so for several seconds their breath could be seen before it warmed up again.

"I am a Jötun Prince, stolen from the snows. Should I be grateful for not being left to die? Should I be grateful for being a _joke_ to those around me, even when doing nothing humorous at all? Should I be _grateful_ , Odinson, to have been the force to push against so you could shine and cast me in ever deeper shadow? No." He let his arm drop. "Odin will not give me those books. He does not trust me, and I've given him no reason to with my parting words to him. I would say you owe me for that, but you owe me for _far_ more than you would ever bother to repay."

Thor looked back at Loki in irritation. "Enough, Loki. We will speak of such things later if you feel that we must, but I will not have a battle of words with you."

Loki laughed derisively. "No, of course you won't. It's too intellectual for--"

" _Enough_!" Thor strode forward and grabbed Loki by the back of the head, staring him in the eyes. "You are clever, Loki. If you do not have access to those tomes, then I know you will find another way. Just stay away from Selvig and stay away from Jane. Do not cause problems for them, or for us. Please, brother."

Loki stared back, and then sighed heavily before pushing Thor's hand away and backing away from him before emitting a soft groan and averting his gaze.

Thor looked puzzled and worried. "Loki?"

Loki shook his head with a soft laugh and then pointed at the ceiling. "I remembered Stark's peeping habits."

"Ah.....oh." Thor began to smile. "Loki! At a time like this?"

Loki gave a shrug and turned away.

"If you're done being the Prince of Pity Parties." Tony's voice came through the speaker abruptly. "Head down to the lab. I've got something to show you."

Loki slowly turned back again to look at Thor, expression about as thunderous as the weather outside. "Are you certain I can't kill him?"

Thor sighed heavily. "I am irritated with him as well, brother. None the less, killing a mortal simply because you are upset with them is in poor taste."

"Hypocrite." Loki spat at him before striding past. "Let us go see what the croaking toad wants, then."

\------------------------------------------------------------

"If he throws you out a window, I think even the other guy will agree that you deserved it." Bruce said, looking at Tony as if he might have lost his mind. "What are you doing, Tony? You don't go purposefully pissing off powerful beings, especially ones like Loki."

"Are you kidding?" Tony retorted. "Pissing off powerful beings is my thing. Stark Industries isn't the best at whatever I have it doing for nothing."

Bruce snorted softly, but he was smiling a bit. "I'll be sure to mention that in your eulogy." He and Tony both looked over when Loki and Thor strode into the lab. Loki stopped short when he saw Bruce and his eyes narrowed, lip curling up in a snarl.

"One day Stark, you will not have your pet monster so handily by to protect you. I have a very long memory for slights, and as you are mortal, I would have quashed you long before if not for Thor's affection for you."

"Yeah yeah, nancy boy. Whatever you say." Tony turned away to his screen, not noticing Loki's twitch nor Bruce's tensing.

"You are _very_ lucky my brother is standing behind me, Stark." Loki said tightly.

"What?" Thor looked confused.

"He just essentially called me a Vanir of the current meaning, Thor."

Thor's brows furrowed, and then a loud bang of thunder seemed to shake the building. "How dare you insult my brother so?!" He moved to push past Loki, but then Bruce got between the Asgardians and Tony.

"Tony's in a lot of pain from his leg." He spoke quickly, hands half raised as if doing so could physically stop Thor. "He gets like this when he's hurting."

Loki bared his teeth, subtly slipping half behind Thor. "Then perhaps he should have taken my offer to heal the injury when I had first given it. I'll not be so inclined now."

Tony watched quietly from over Bruce's shoulder, and then sighed. "JARVIS. Show them the images from S.H.I.E.L.D."

A holo screen popped up in the air between Bruce and Thor, several images making themselves known on it. Loki scowled, but then stepped around Thor to look at the images.

"Well now." He said after a few moments with a feral smile. "This seems to be the Power gem."

"Yes, that's what I thought too." Bruce stepped back to lean against Tony's workstation. He pushed his glasses up his nose. "It was apparently stolen at the same time you went for the scepter."

Loki's lip twitched as if he wanted to curl it, and his eyes narrowed a bit before he decidedly began poking at parts of the hologram until doing so started a video. Loki watched as a woman with scarlet red hair and blue skin surrounded by the same glitter that had given him away in his invisibility stepped into view of the camera. He then watched as she swiftly, and in many cases, acrobatically, took care of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents that got in her way. She then took out some kind of cutter to slice through the thick plastic which had protected the Power gem, reaching in to take it and tuck it in a pouch before prying off a vent grate and escaping into it.

"So." Loki mused softly. "It is in her possession, then."

"Yeah, though we'll have a hell of a time finding her." Tony pointed out. "That woman there? That's Mystique. She's a shapeshifter, and also one of the top members of The Brotherhood of Mutants. But hey, you're the man with the plan, aren't you? So any ideas?"

Loki looked at Thor, and gave an incredulous laugh. "Can you fathom the arrogance of this mortal, brother? He insults and belittles me, and then in the next moment asks for my help!" He laughed again, but then looked back at Tony impassively. "Kneel for me, Stark. I'll consider your request then."

"What? No. I'm not--I couldn't even if I wanted to, Loki. My leg's busted up, remember?"

Loki gave a nasty smile. "I haven't forgotten. So then Stark, it seems we are at an impasse. You want me to find the Power gem for you, and I presume, tamely hand it over to you as I did my scepter, but you have nothing to offer me to make it worth my while." He took a step closer, though he paused and eyed Bruce warily when he tensed before looking at Tony again. "I do not need you to find the Power gem, and I have no reason to give it over to human hands. Indeed, I think I would keep it for myself. With its power, I would not need any augmentation at all to find the Chitauri. Indeed, with the Power gem I might not even need you mortals at all."

"Brother." Thor rumbled warningly.

Loki clucked his tongue and turned his head to look back at him. " _Must_ you construe threat in everything I say? I won't harm your precious mortals, though this one's arrogance vexes me muchly." He shook his head. "Oh never mind. I might as well speak to a wall. I may gain greater reaction from stone and mortar than reach the brain between your blocked ears."

Thor gave Loki an irritated look, then reached out to grab his arm and pull him back toward the elevator. "You go forth to seek the gem immediately?"

".....I might as well." Loki sighed wearily, though he didn't try to pull free from Thor's grasp. "All that studying for naught. Such an aggravation."

"Before you do so, I would have you take me to Jane."

Loki jerked his arm free abruptly and looked at Thor as if he was fresh cow manure. "Your precious woman? Get yourself there. Throw Mjölnir to the West and South, I am certain you can find her."

"You are going to take me, brother." Thor spoke firmly.

Loki gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine. I will take you to your precious human." He placed a hand on Thor's arm and in but a blinking, they were suddenly standing outside in the cool night desert air near a car dealership.

"I'm sure you can find your way from here." Loki stepped away. "How regretful that you would truly rather have her affections than mine."

Thor looked around himself, then gave Loki an annoyed look. "This is not about _choices_ , brother. Jane is a friend, and I wish to visit her. She is not a lover, regardless of how she may fancy herself so."

"I wonder how long _that_ will last. A bit thin, but her hips looked good for childbearing." Loki waved a hand when Thor scowled at him. "I don't like the woman, but that is through no fault of her own. Go on and have your fun, brother. I will come back for you in the dawn."

"And if you do not?"

"Then you can find your own way back. Or not. The Chitauri should not be able to attack again for another day after, and who is to say they will attack Stark's tower again? They may have other goals the next time, I could not say." Loki shrugged.

Thor thought about this, then nodded. "We must speak at great length, Loki. Soon. There are many things I must speak with you of."

"I'm sure there are, should your mortal waif not chase them all from your head."

Thor gave a heavy sigh. "......Are you certain you will be able to find this 'Mystique', brother? You too are a shapeshifter, but--"

"Worry not, Thor." Loki smiled. "I have always known where she was. She is after all, the oldest of my mortal children and worth keeping track of." He turned to walk away, slowly fading out of view. "Goodbye, brother. At least you can lift Mjölnir this time."

Thor clenched his teeth at the reminder of the last time he and Loki had both been in New Mexico and watched until Loki vanished from view completely before turning smartly on his heel to find where Jane lived.


	11. Ravens and Hawks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recently became aware that Jötnar is plural for Jötun, so going forward I will try to use it correctly. All characters in this fanfic belong either to Marvel or Norse mythology. I own nothing but the imagination I used to write this.

The apartment door opened and the woman known to her current colleagues as Rebecca Dwight slipped inside, promptly closing the door behind herself again to lean on it and take on her real appearance with a weary sigh.

A low chuckle caught her attention and she immediately moved away from the door, snapping the light on with a hand as she dropped into a roll, coming out of it with an ankle pistol aimed in the direction she had heard the sound, only to freeze in surprise.

The man who sat on her living room couch appeared to be in early middle age. Gray was peppered throughout his short brown hair, he had laughlines at the edges of his mouth and the corners of his eyes. But it was his eyes which struck her strongest. She knew those eyes, and it was the eyes which had her slowly, uncertainly lowering the gun. ".....Papa....?"

The man smiled and lifted a hand, holding it out to her. "Raven. It's been a long time. Too long."

Mystique's eyes narrowed, and though she kept the small pistol lowered, her confusion was quickly evolving into rather understandable wariness. ".....How?" She said. "It's impossible. You're--He was....and...."

"I know, my little blackbird." The man who seemed to be Mystique's father, said. "And I should have come to find you long before now. I'm sorry for that, my dear daughter. I can't express in words how sorry--"

"Enough." She had leveled the pistol at his forehead. "My father died centuries ago. He died before I even _became_.....this. You're not him, but you seem to know about him. Who are you really?"

".....I don't blame you for doubting, I truly don't. But I _am_ who I appear to be; Lucian Darkholme. Your father." He could see her finger tightening on the trigger and sighed, lifting a hand in a supplicating gesture. "I would rather you not do that, Raven. Bullets have an awful sting to them. Put down the gun. I promise I will explain."

"My name's not Raven any more." She pulled the trigger and the man's head jerked back, but to her surprise and building fear, he straightened right back up again with nothing more than a scratch, the crushed bullet falling into his lap.

"Ow." He commented mildly, but then sighed and moved to get to his feet, ignoring how she jerked the gun to remain trained on him, though it had obviously proven futile. "Very well, Raven. My daughter, my oldest mortal child. I'll tell you the truth." He looked at her, and she watched as his form shifted. Not only growing in height, but his features becoming younger as his hair grew longer and slicked back from his face. His clothing also changing into attire extremely foreign. The only part of him that didn't change were his eyes.

"Who--?"

"I am Loki. God of Mischief." He gave her a slight bow, keeping his eyes on her and smiling faintly.

"Norse God of Lies, Trickery, Chaos and Fire." Mystique sighed heavily and finally lowered the pistol before holstering it in her pocket. "Aren't you supposed to be a redhead?"

Loki clucked his tongue, looking mildly impressed. "They expected such of me, so to the Nords, I did indeed appear that way. But really my daughter, that is beyond the point and it is rather vain of me to speak of myself, isn't it?"

She gave him an unimpressed look. "What does a Norse God want with me?"

".....Raven....." Loki's amusement faded, and now he just looked hurt. "It is as I continue to say. You are my daughter. I should have come to find you sooner, I know that. But I am here now."

Mystique crossed her arms. "So it's your fault I'm this.....freak."

Loki looked at her quietly. She was a fully grown woman and had produced children of her own, but he wondered if mentally speaking she was more like an Asgardian of similar age and was in fact barely an adult at all. "Not a freak, Raven. A mutant. I didn't intend it of course, I never have in my mortal guises, but do not curse your fate. You are the next evolution of humanity."

".....Magneto says that as well." She scowled. "Why are you here now then, 'father'?"

Loki sighed heavily. She had grown cynical in her brief centuries, but then, could he really blame her when she looked the way she did? Would he not have grown bitter far quicker had he known from his youth what _he_ really was? "The Power gem that you stole from S.H.I.E.L.D. I need it."

Her pupilless yellow eyes narrowed and her fingers flexed on her arms. "Try again, 'pops'."

".....Very well." Loki stepped over to her and stopped, tilting his head slightly as if considering her before his hand lashed out to grab her by the throat and lift her off her feet.

"Now," He snarled, eyes narrowed while she choked. "this is how it is. I need the Power gem. You will give me the Power gem. Do you understand?"

Mystique gave a strangled whimper and attempted to shift into another form, but Loki's fingers only tightened on her neck and she gave a weak cry when a neck vertebrae shifted. "Yes...." She forced out, hands coming up to scrabble desperately at his vambrace.

He dropped her abruptly and she huddled in a half crouch, wheezing and trying not to hyperventilate while she frantically thought of what to do.

"Well?" Loki spoke up when her breathing began to even out.

Mystique slowly moved back to get to her feet. "......I _can't_ give it to you." She quickly brought her hands up before he could grab her again. "I've already promised it to someone else, and if I don't deliver, my life is worse than forfeit."

Loki eyed her. "....Oh? Who, then?"

"Victor von Doom, the sometimes ruler of Latveria." Loki arched a brow and Mystique crossed her arms. "He believes me to be an ally. It's better he continues to hold that opinion long enough for me to....deal with him."

"Giving this 'Doom' individual the Power gem is scarcely going to aid in that venture." Loki commented dryly.

"Good old 'slight of hand' will help me with that." Mystique said. "I have a fake duplicate, but I can't risk just giving that to him and him finding out too quickly just what I've done."

"And you cannot simply double-cross him and hide in another shape for a while because...?"

Mystique sighed heavily. "Because that would derail an entire generation of plans, and I'd _really_ rather not have to wait that long before being able to execute them."

"Do you wish to kill him?"

"That _would_ be an ideal end goal, yes."

"Then I will offer you a deal." Loki lifted a hand and created a clearly illusionary Power gem in his hand. "You give me the Power gem, and I will create a duplicate that mimics its output, but if the holder attempts to use said gem, an explosion will occur." He looked to her. "Agreed?"

Mystique's expression turned thoughtful. "Make two, and you can have it."

Loki arched a brow, lowering his hand. "Two?"

Mystique smiled. "After taking out Doctor Doom, I was going to hand it to Magneto. But if I could take _him_ out with a fake too, then I could take over the Brotherhood."

Loki smiled in return. "Then let us not waste any more time."

\------------------------------------------------------------

Thor sat on the edge roof of the Smith Motors building, staring off at the slowly brightening horizon. He'd had a fun time with Jane. She'd stayed up most of the night with him, telling him what had gone on in her life and listening in turn to what had gone on in his.

They had mostly spoken of light-hearted topics and Thor had told her of the good things that had taken place, though he had very carefully avoided any mention of Loki. This did not go unnoticed by Jane, and she had eventually asked him about it. Thor did not even try to divert the topic then, and he told her vague details of the first serious battle he'd fought with Loki, ending with him having to destroy the Bifröst. He had then continued on to tell her of Loki's return and subsequent capture. He had also assured her that his brother had been more than adequately punished, though he was vague on the how and promised her that Loki would do her no harm. Jane had not been entirely convinced of that and had told Thor of the Trickster's visit to her, though she had all the same assured him that Loki had done no more than scare her.

Thor had then done something he knew Loki would not be pleased to find out about, as Thor knew he inevitably would. He had asked Jane for advice in dealing with his brother.

Now he sat, waiting for Loki to return for him and at the same dreading it. They needed to talk, but Thor knew it wouldn't be easy to have the conversation with Loki's way of twisting words and meanings. He sighed heavily to himself and rubbed the bridge of his nose, half-considering taking up Mjölnir and flying back to New York on his own, but knowing he would never be able to face himself in the mirror if he ran away from what he knew he had to do.

"At dawn's break, the castle wakes to the sound of the Gjallerhorn." Thor perked up at the quiet singing and smiled, tilting his head slightly to listen.

"Up brave warriors! Up brave men, to the sound of the Gjallerhorn. 'To war!' They cry 'For Asgard!' they shout, and so the ramparts ring. The rousing cries of men to battle is quite the fearsome thing. But will they survive the coming siege? The enemy is many. As the sound of cheering fades, comes the sounds of rally. The walls as ever, they do hold, these warriors drive them back. Again as always, victory stands upon united backs."

"It has been a long age since I have last heard you sing, brother." Thor greeted Loki as the younger came to sit beside him, turning his head to smile to him. "You must be in high spirits indeed."

"Singing? I?" Loki gave him a perfectly quizzical look. "I do not sing. You must be mistaken."

"Ah, of course." Thor forced himself to look serious. "It must have been the wind." He couldn't maintain the expression and grinned, nudging Loki. "So tell me, brother. What has you so pleased?"

Finally Loki smiled back and produced a red gem between his fingers. "I was successful in my endeavor, and I got to know my daughter."

"I am happy for you, brother." Thor playfully tried to snatch the gem from Loki, but he tucked it away again before he had the chance. He smiled more. Now this, _this_ was the brother he remembered. Smiling, playful, light-hearted. He knew it couldn't last, but he wanted to bask in it while it did. Pretend for just a little while that there was no rift between them, that things were as they had been.

The moment was all too brief and Thor watched Loki's expression darken again before the younger looked away. "Did you have fun with your woman? Bestow upon her your virile gifts?"

Thor made a sound of annoyance in his throat. "I like her for her _personality_ , Loki. Besides, she is being courted by her 'ex-boyfriend' and has decided to give him another chance. Jane is my friend and _only_ my friend."

"Such restraint." Loki commented dryly.

Thor sighed heavily, then looked at Loki seriously. "Brother." He made a disgruntled expression and then dropped his eyes. ".....I am sorry. For all the ways I have failed you, for the mockery I have before made of you, though I have always loved you dear. I am sorry for.....everything."

Loki looked at him from the corner of his eyes, and Thor could see his expression closing off. He stood up and stepped away. "You're sorry." He spoke flatly, his back to Thor. "For _everything_."

"Yes, Loki. I know I haven't always been the best brother to you, but--"

Loki laughed harshly. "Do you _really_ think words can mend that which has been rended apart, Thor? What once was mortar and stone has crumbled into mud and sand." He turned his head, and a Jötun stared at him. "Do you _honestly_ think it's that easy?!"

Thor squinted at Loki, and briefly he wondered if he'd fallen asleep waiting for him and he was having a nightmare, but he quickly dismissed it. His nightmares involving Loki always happened in Asgard or on the Bifröst, and he moved to stand. "What is this all of a sudden, Loki?" He motioned to his Jötun appearance. "You already know I don't care about that."

Loki turned more fully to him. "Because I am your brother." He spat. "Brother to a monster. A freakish half-blooded runt."

Thor sighed heavily. He had expected Loki to stonewall the conversation, he always did this. None the less, he knew he would be addressing the diversion anyway or risk having Loki accuse him of not caring. "You grew in your time away from Asgard, as did I grow in the wake of your assumed death. I learned of the Jötnar. They are savage yes, brutal certainly, but are we of Asgard really so different?" He spread out his hands, voice and expression weary, fighting a battle he knew he was unlikely to win but knowing he had to fight it none the less. "We have the greater technology, but we are little better than the monsters and other beings we hold ourselves above. We stomp about like the Bligesnipe, rage as loudly as any Troll. In....in a tome Fandral helped me to find, it said that Jötnar were the Aesir and Vanir ancestors!"

Loki slid his left foot behind his right, shifting his body sideways as if trying to present a smaller target and his expression extremely perplexed. Thor felt little joy in confusing the younger, though maybe he had done enough to punch a hole in his stubborn anger--an irony Thor was able to take note of.

"I was so angry at our parents when they told me what you were, Loki." Thor continued, pressing what little advantage he seemed to have. "Not because I was finding out you were a Frost Giant, but because they had never told you before. Never told _us_ before. I blamed them, Father most of all. My little brother was dead, and...." He paused, eyes filling with tears at the remembered anguish. "and if I had known...."

Loki sighed heavily and his appearance returned to the one that was more familiar. He stepped over to Thor and cupped his cheeks in his hands. "Enough, you great blubbering fool," He said with weary exasperation. "I'm not dead."

"No...." The tears fell anyway, and Thor stepped back as guilt replaced remembered grief. "Now you receive Asgard's scorn, and that is my fault."

Loki's eyes narrowed and his fists clenched at his sides. "...... _You_? You who call me brother, who claim to _love me_ \--?!"

"It wasn't intentional!" Thor protested. "I was upset with Father, and I sought out my friends. I....I raged about it to them, but it was in a public place....and the news just....." He hung his head.

"....Idiot." Loki huffed and turned away from him. "You have so much to be sorry for, so much to make up for. You can never mend what was broken."

"I cannot make Asgard forget what I said," Thor agreed, still hanging his head a bit. "But you call me brother again, and.....we're only a little over a millennium old, Loki. Still young. There's plenty of time for me to show you I can be a worthy brother."

"Such a reversal with the shining prince of Asgard wanting to be 'worthy' of the one he's cast in his shadow all this time." Loki commented caustically.

"I never intended for you to feel that way, Loki." Thor said, and huffed out a heavy breath. "I have felt overshadowed by you many a time myself, in all honesty."

Loki snorted derisively and glanced back at him. "Oh, now _this_ I would hear! How has the mighty Thor felt overshadowed by the cowardly sorcerer?"

Thor grit his teeth and forced his temper down. Loki wanted to goad him, though he could hardly ever understand why the younger did so. This time he wasn't going to let him do it. "Because I'm jealous of your magic. No, don't laugh!" Thor pointed at him when Loki did that very thing. "I'm serious! Being able to change your shape, hide in plain sight....I could have gotten out of boring lessons if I could do things like that."

".....If you could do the things I can, you wouldn't have found lessons boring." Loki muttered, but Thor could see he was considering what he was saying.

"I made fun of you because I was jealous." It was almost a relief to finally be able to admit it, to be mature enough to admit he'd been childish. "So I'm sorry for all of that, Loki. I want to be better now." Thor took a step forward. "I know I cannot erase the past, but I can make amends for the future."

Loki looked at him musingly for several moments, and then he smiled. Something in his expression made Thor uneasy, but he smiled back anyway.

"Of course, brother." Loki said, stepping over to him and putting his hands on Thor's upper arms. "Amends for the future. Shall we return to your mortal friends?"

"Yes." Thor said. "I am worried...." He became more serious and let Loki go, furrowing his brows. "You said Amora had the Tesseract. What if the Chitauri used it to get to Midgard ahead of this two day schedule you have assumed for them?"

Loki went still. "......I don't think......but you're right, it might be possible.....I.....yes." He shook his head, likely frustrated by his inability to articulate what he meant and put a hand on Thor's arm again to teleport them to the tower.

\------------------------------------------------------------

The Chitauri had not attacked in their absence, but as extra insurance, Loki created floating 'alarms' which he sent to circle the tower. He told Thor they would attack and distract anything that looked like a Chitauri. It was an extremely temporary measure, but Loki was confident that they would last long enough for a response to be made, then he headed straight for Thor's bedroom to pass out in the bed. Thor followed and they slept until early afternoon when Thor and Loki--after Thor convinced the latter to swipe from Asgard's kitchens--ate a hearty meal. Thor then asked Jarvis if there was a place to train, which upon receiving an affirmative and arrows to point the way, headed off for the exercise room and dragged Loki all unwilling with him.

"Ah, Captain Rogers!" Thor greeted Steve cheerfully. "Good morrow to you!"

Steve looked over from the punching bag he'd been working away on and quirked an amused smile. "It's the afternoon Thor, but hello anyway." He glanced at Loki curiously before looking back at Thor. "What brings you down here?"

"I was hoping for a training room." Thor informed him, looking around. "Though this looks nothing like one I have ever seen before."

"It is called a 'gym', I believe." Loki told the older, picking up a hundred pound weight like it was nothing. "Though there appears to be a wrestling ring over there." He pointed, then set the weight down and picked up a couple of 20lb barbels. He sighed unhappily at them and Steve could have sworn he heard the trickster mutter something about 'benchpressing a small car'.

"You seem in a good mood today." Steve commented to Loki, watching as he picked up this or that while Thor went to look at the wrestling ring.

Loki lifted his head to look at Steve. "Did you know S.H.I.E.L.D held possession of the Power gem?"

Steve blinked, then frowned. "No."

"Ah." Loki's eyes glittered briefly. "Then your team members are keeping secrets." He waved a hand at Steve when he narrowed his eyes. "It is of no matter. S.H.I.E.L.D had it stolen from them, and I took it from the one who stole it." He made a slight of hand motion and held the gem up between two fingers, just long enough for Steve to acknowledge it before he vanished it again. "It shall be staying with me for now. Once I have a map to start with, I shall make an attempt at scrying."

"Scrying? Oh....right. To figure out where the Chitauri are coming from." Steve stepped closer to him and glanced back at Thor, who had climbed into the ring and was tapping his foot about on the springy floor. "I've been meaning to ask; even when we know where they're originating, how does that change anything?"

"You mentioned a nuke before." Loki pointed out to him. "It was how Iron Man stopped the attack on the city, yes?" Steve gave a slow nod and Loki smiled. "Well, once I know where the Chitauri are, I could open a temporary gateway and--"

"Wait, wait." Steve made an 'X' motion with his hands. "You're suggesting we nuke their home planet? No way. That's genocide."

Loki gave him a faintly exasperated look. "'You can't kill an entire race'?" He said, sounding mildly annoyed. "Yes, I was wondering why I was drawing parallels between you and Thor. You really do sound _just_ like him right now." Thor looked over when he heard his name and Loki continued with growing annoyance. "It would be a favor to the universe, Captain. _Believe me_ , the Chitauri are a plague like your Earthen locusts and they would assuredly have no qualms about genociding _you_!"

"That doesn't mean we should do it first!" Steve responded. "Against those Chitauri it was different. They were soldiers and our enemies. But their planet? No. I am _not_ okay with murdering innocents!"

"There _are_ no innocents!" Loki made a cut-off motion with his arm. "Would you think twice about calling an exterminator to rid yourself of a termite infestation, Captain? It is the same thing! They are a hive! There _are_ no innocents!"

"So you say."

" _Yes_. So I say!" Loki growled, bearing his teeth. "I would _know_ , better than _you_ ever could!"

"Brother." Loki jumped when Thor's hand came down on his shoulder, as he'd been so focused on Steve he hadn't noticed Thor's approach. "Even if it is just as you say, and I am not doubting the truth of your experience, this is not the way. We must give the Chitauri the chance to surrender."

"You are both idiots." Loki grated. "They are little more than _insects_ and should be treated as such!"

"I thought _we_ were insects to you." Steve pointed out.

Loki's eyes blazed with contained magic as he looked between the two of them, but after a few moments the light died and his shoulders sagged slightly.

"I should not be held accountable for what I said while under the influence of the Tesseract."

"Except you weren't, not really." Steve responded. "Your eyes were blue, I saw that clearly enough in Stuttgart, but I've seen the footage. Selvig and Barton's eyes were _vivid_. Yours weren't."

Loki tsked and half turned to push Thor away. "No wonder the Nazi's found you such a problem, Captain. You are entirely too sharp-eyed." He turned back to Steve, watching as his expression hardened. "Very well, Captain. You may inform Selvig I no longer need the information. If you wish to make this hard on yourselves, far be it for me to interfere."

"You gonna tell me what's going on?" Steve was just not going to drop the issue.

Loki sighed heavily. "Come speak with me later, Captain. Mayhaps I will tell you, but I would at least like the _illusion_ of privacy whilst doing so." He glanced at the ceiling and curled his lip, then turned to go. "Enjoy your exercise."

Natasha slipped in as Loki left, nearly ramming into him and the two of them doing neat little half-turns to avoid touching. Steve likely would have found that more interesting, but he was immediately distracted from his prior thoughts by the expression of _livid fury_ on her face.

" _Clint_ " She spat his name like a curse. "was given drugs to take down the brain swelling and was cleared for duty. He's _decided_ to come here and help fight the Chitauri and _Fury_ only just decided to inform me _now_ that it's too late to stop him." Her fists were clenched tightly at her sides and Steve noticed from the corner of his eye as Thor subtly shifted back a step. Steve frankly couldn't blame him, though the idea of the Asgardian being afraid of Natasha was almost funny in abstract.

"O...kay." Steve said slowly, unsure what he was supposed to do.

Natasha hissed through her teeth. "So keep him away from me for a few hours, or I might just knock him into a coma." With that pronouncement, she spun on her heel and stalked out again, spitting in Russian that from her tone was probably some awfully foul language.

Steve stood very still for a few moments after she was gone, then turned toward Thor only to pause when he saw the look on his face. "Are you alright?"

"Ahh...." Thor shook his head, looking faintly disturbed. "I simply.....do you understand that language, my friend?"

"No," Steve said. "Russian isn't one of the languages I ever bothered to learn."

Thor thinned his lips and nodded slightly, then clapped Steve on the shoulder. "Likely for the best. The things she was describing....I am not certain they are anatomically possible."

".......Ah." Steve grimaced slightly. "Gotcha." He sighed. "Well, sorry to bail on you, but I apparently have to keep one of my teammates away from her so we don't find out if anything she was saying is.....that."

"Should I speak to Loki on the matter?" Thor rumbled lowly, and Steve found himself both surprised and relieved that Thor is willing to follow his orders still.

"Let me talk to Clint first." He responded and headed off to get changed out of his exercise gear.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Steve had gotten changed and headed down to the lobby in time to see Clint pull up on a S.H.I.E.L.D issue motorcycle. Steve leaned against the wall of the building and patiently waited for Clint to come to a stop, kick down the stand, remove his helmet and grab his things.

"Did Fury send you?"

Clint stopped and scratched the side of his nose. "Yeah." He admitted, sounding almost sheepish. "He thinks you're all compromised, and it's all Hill and Coulson have been--" He cut himself off when he realized what he'd said and swallowed hard.

"Coulson." Steve repeated slowly. "Phil Coulson. Who Loki _stabbed_. Who's funeral we all went to."

Clint put his bow on his back and brought his hands up. "......Cap......"

There was a subtle shift, and suddenly Steve's posture wasn't at all relaxed anymore. "Tell me what's going on."

Clint pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. "......Jarvis can't hear outside the building, can he...?"

"I don't know, but you're telling the others if he can't."

"Fuuuuck." Clint hissed through his teeth and straightened up. "Okay, look. He got stabbed, he died, but they were able to keep his brain alive long enough to get him to an operating room and Fury told us he'd died not only because he didn't know if Phil was gonna make it, but because we needed something to unify us."

"Alright." Steve said, nodding slightly. "I understand that. But why keep up the charade? Why have a funeral? Why not tell us the truth?"

"Phil's idea, apparently. He didn't want to.....cheapen it, I guess. I actually didn't know he was still around myself until Spider-Man told me a couple of months ago. He works as the principal of the kid's school."

Steve sighed heavily. "I don't know whether I should be happy he's alive, or angry that I'm only finding this out by chance." He smiled faintly. "That explains why Spider-Man was so excited to meet me, at least."

"Haaa. Is he here? I figured he'd be here." Clint smirked. "Had his help when Barney broke out of prison last year. I don't mind him so much. He'd make an okay Avenger if he'd calm down a little."

Steve shook his head. "He's not here right now. He went home to check on his aunt. He said he would be back in time to help us against the next Chitauri wave though." He looked at Clint more seriously then. "So, Fury thinks we're compromised."

"Because of the scepter, yeah."

"And he sent _you_ to look into it."

Clint nodded. "Because I would know if you were, and I can tell that you're not. Your baby blues aren't any more pretty than they're supposed to be."

"Thanks. I think." Steve responded dryly.

"And I'm here to help you kick alien bug ass." Clint turned to show Steve his quiver. "Brought more arrows."

"Good, because the Chitauri are a lot bigger and uglier than the last time." Steve paused. "Do you know how S.H.I.E.L.D managed to evac roughly 1,700,000 people in one night? Without any of us noticing?"

Clint shook his head. "Come on, Spangles. You've worked with S.H.I.E.L.D for roughly three years now. You should know better than to ask questions like that." He moved for the door. "I might as well say my hellos to the rest of the team and then you can debrief me."

Steve reached out to stop him. "Hold on, Barton. Loki's _here_."

".....Yeah, Steve. I figured he would be."

"And you're alright with this?"

Clint scratched his head, then sighed and faced Steve squarely. "Look. I was the one keeping an eye on that damn scepter when he came to swipe it. He could've killed me. He didn't. He could've killed all those agents. He didn't. Now he's fighting against the Chitauri, and I want to know what changed. I want to know why he's leaving survivors." He squinted slightly. "Loki's not Nat. But I made a different call for her. Nothing saying that crazy sonvabitch couldn't improve either."

"Hm." Steve nodded, knowing no one was gonna leave the two in a room together. "Speaking of Natasha, you should avoid her for a while. She looked about ready to rip your arm off."

"Oh, cool." Clint replied without batting an eye. "Maybe I could get a metal one then like.....like a colleague of mine." He turned toward the doors again. "The guy's on a deep cover assignment, but he's due back in a couple'a months. You should meet him, Steve. I'd say he's an even bigger fan of you than Coulson is."

Steve groaned. "Great. I didn't even know that was possible."

"Yeah. The way he talks about you, it's like he knew you." Clint laughed. If he kept this up, Natasha really _would_ kill him. "Come on. I've been driving for hours. Y'got any grub in there?"

"Some. Between me and the Asgardians, we're running a little low, but Rhodey is flying a shipment in for us that should arrive soon. If we're lucky, he'll stay and we'll have War Machine."

"That'd be helpful." Clint agreed and headed inside with Steve following after him.


	12. Knowledge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for taking so long these days. Things have been rather emotionally dramatic for me of late, and I haven't really felt like writing. All characters in this fanfic belong either to Marvel or Norse mythology. I own nothing but the imagination I used to write this.

It had ended up being a rather hectic day, even without the Chitauri. Tony flipping out over the strange things orbiting his tower and needing to be reassured by Thor that they were defensive measures by Loki and not another threat. Clint running into Natasha anyway and getting a lecture so scathing, Steve could swear she was stripping the paint and the Avengers hearing from Clint after said lecture about Coulson not as dead as thought. Rhodey had come a couple of hours before and tried to convince Tony to let him fly him to a hospital. When Steve had left their company 45 minutes ago, they had still been at it and Bruce had left five minutes before he had. Now with no other damage control to do at the moment, Steve finally went looking for Loki to hopefully get that explanation.

This was why he found himself climbing up onto the roof where he found Loki sitting crosslegged with two blue lights circling him and dancing around one another in a hypnotizing pattern. Steve paused to watch the light show, but it only lasted a few moments more before Loki lifted his hand and the lights flew onto it, whereupon he closed his fingers around them and snuffed them out.

"Good evening, Captain."

"Good evening, Loki." Steve stepped over and slowly sat down near him. "And it's just Steve. I'm not in uniform right now."

Loki half-turned to look at him and tilted his head, eyes glowing slightly in the dark. "Attempting to form a level of camaraderie with me?" He asked after a few seconds and then smiled. "An interesting approach to take with a once enemy."

Steve resisted the urge to roll his eyes. When Tony had called Loki a diva, he hadn't even been slightly exaggerating. "It just feels weird to be called 'Captain' all the time."

Loki considered that a lot harder than Steve considered necessary, then nodded slightly. "Rogers, then." He concluded.

Steve sighed. "Now you're just being difficult on purpose, aren't you?"

Loki smiled again, looking amused. "Human last names fascinate me. So few of them have 'son' in them these days, or 'dottir', and the ones which do rarely have to do with the gendered parent's name."

"Well, that's a really old human tradition." Steve shrugged slightly. "I suppose I would be 'Josephson' then, but err.....I'd still really rather you called me Steve." He laughed and shook his head. "This is really getting more complicated than it needs to be."

"Joseph." Loki murmured. "A Biblical name. Son of Jacob."

It was suddenly getting into waters Steve didn't want to discuss. "I assume Thor told you that Clint is here?" 

Loki smirked slightly. "He did, though he didn't have to. The little sparrow has been staring at me from around corners--and is indeed part of the reason I am up here now. I've left him be, but really now....if he was foolish enough to come here, then he deserves it when I decide to stop ignoring him."

Steve sighed. "Loki...."

"Don't treat me like some delinquent, Rogers." Loki spoke with some irritation. "I only have so much patience. I will not harm him unless he attacks me first. You have my word."

Steve wondered how trustworthy the word of a liar was, but didn't feel like having an argument. "So," He said instead, yanking the conversation in the direction he'd climbed up there to have. "You said you were controlled by the Tesseract, but your eyes weren't vivid like Selvig and Clint's were. You said you'd tell me what was going on there."

"I said I _might_." Loki corrected and looked off at the distance and the city, which only had automatic lights and street lights on. "But in the end, it may be vital that I be forthright."

Steve waited, and at length, Loki continued. "I made the gem in my scepter, using what knowledge I had of the Tesseract and once created I used it to call out to the 'parent' object, if you will. After that, I....projected ideas into the right minds to set things in motion for my arrival." He shuddered and though Steve wasn't sure, he could swear that Loki lost some color. "In answer to your question, this doing so allowed the Tesseract to worm into my mind. It made contact easier, made it less of a strain, but my...." He trailed off and shook his head. "The Tesseract is manipulative. You have seen what it can do to the minds of men, both in recent then and in the age from which sleep took you."

".......What?" Steve shook his head. "You lost me there at the last part."

Loki looked at him. "You saw what it did to Selvig and Barton, and how it sang its siren song to the Red Skull as well."

Steve stared back at him, then shook his head more vigorously. "Okay, other then how the hell do you know about the Red Skull, how do you know he was manipulated by the Tesseract?" Loki gave a toothy smile and Steve went deadpan. "You were there, weren't you?"

"I am over a thousand years old, Capt--oh my apologies, Steven. I have been in a lot of places. But oh yes, I was there in a sense. Very much in the background, and as you well know, I did not gain the Tesseract, but I was there." He leaned toward Steve slightly. "I have known you _much_ longer than you have known me."

"Yeah, apparently." It was hard to resist the urge to lean away when Loki was getting entirely too close, but Steve figured that's what he got for sitting next to him and refused to be intimidated so easily. "So, you were bent on world domination all the way back then too, huh? I--"

"No." Loki cut Steve off flatly, but firmly. "I was trying to retrieve it from Johann Shmidt's unworthy hands. He had taken it from its guardians and....well you know what he dared do, the very same that S.H.I.E.L.D intended in the end. I would have returned it to Asgard then, and perhaps have garnered some praise for doing so without revealing myself." He looked off at the skyline again. "Until Thor's banishment those years gone past, we were not to reveal ourselves to humanity. Being that I am a shapechanger, I could circumvent that law." He shrugged and shifted to draw a leg up to his chest.

Steve didn't mention that Loki was also supposedly a pathological liar, but all the same with the information dangling right in front of his nose, he couldn't help but grab at it--and wondered even as he did so whether it was bait Loki was purposely dangling in front of him. "So why did you give up if you just planned on returning it to Asgard?"

"Because some hero without a pilot's license decided to crash a plane into Greenland." Loki looked at him sideways. "Because Howard Stark is the one who found the Tesseract afterward, and I considered his designs benign enough. Or maybe it is because I had an idiot brother who had gotten himself in trouble and I had to bail him out." He looked up at the sky. "How things change....and yet do not at all."

"......Just how much attention were you paying anyway?" Steve asked lowly, though as soon as he said it he wished he hadn't asked.

"Enough. When you started causing such problems for the HYDRA forces, I admit I was intrigued and I backtraced your origins to Doctor Erskine." Loki clucked his tongue and shook his head, smiling ruefully. "I am certain you don't want to hear about all of this. It is so far in the past it makes little difference. It may ease your heart however to know that the angels chose Erskine to join them. His talents prove of great worth to them."

"He made it to Heaven." Steve interpreted. "Yeah....that's good." He had no idea if it was the truth or not, but Steve would take the comforting fiction in this case. He sighed softly. "I need you to heal Tony's leg."

"If he agrees to the terms and apologizes for being a voyeur, I will."

"I know you don't like him, and believe me, he grates on my nerves a lot too. But the more people fighting the Chitauri, the better. I'm sure you agree to that. So just shelve your issues and heal him anyway."

Loki looked at him quietly for several moments, and then he shifted to stand up. "You are a clever man, Steven Rogers. You give a god commands, and that god listens." He quirked a small smile. "Oh, the Valkyries would likely have you even if you died in peaceful sleep and so might they fight to take you for their own. I can only hope to bear witness to the day." He took a step to leave, but then paused and looked down at Steve, who was still sitting. "Doctor Erskine was a mutant with the power of _intent_ , in that his emotions mixed with his serum created the end result. He saw a bad man and created a monster. He saw a good man and created a hero. You were a worthy end result, Steven. In you runs the blood of Nords, and perhaps of monsters as well. You make them benign." He turned away.

"The.....what's that supposed to mean?!" Steve turned to grab Loki's arm and stop him, but his grip closed on empty air, Loki already gone like smoke and leaving him with even more questions, starting with; _'why does an ancient alien know so much about me and why is he telling me all this?'_

\------------------------------------------------------------

Rhodey and Tony sat in sullen silence, near to each other in Tony's workshop. They had been arguing for nearly an hour, and neither one was happy. Rhodey meant well and Tony knew it, but he kept hoping that somehow he could get back into the fray with the Chitauri. The Avengers were his too, he was their leader when Steve wasn't around. Even if all he could do was work on his suit, at least he was doing something.

"Stubborn, is he not?"

Rhodey and Tony both jumped and turned in Loki's direction as he materialized in the room, walking toward them with an amused smile. He focused on Rhodey and paused, one foot before the other and put hand to chest, bowing. "I am Loki, of Asgard."

"Yeah." Rhodey said warily, slowly moving to stand from the stool he'd been slouched on. "I know."

The skin around Loki's eyes crinkled up when he smiled, the expression seeming entirely benign and cheerful if the two men didn't know better.

"What do you want, Beanpole?" Tony spoke up to distract Loki from his friend. "Don't you have Thor to--"

"Stop." Loki said, giving him a piercing look. "Cease your prattling immediately. It is a feat that you made it to adulthood, the way you carry on." Rhodey gave a snort and a small smile at that. "I have come to heal your leg."

"Traitor." Tony commented to Rhodey before looking at Loki. "What's bringing this on all of a sudden? 'Cause I didn't think you were much for the freebies."

"Ahh, well you are wrong there, Stark. I can be _very_ generous, given reason." He stepped closer to Tony. "As for this, you might thank Steven."

"Hey, how come _he_ gets first name status?" Tony asked incredulously as Loki came over, holding his hands over his leg while Rhodey watched apprehensively.

"Does it bother you so much, Anthony?" Loki purred, making Tony's full first name seem almost like an insult. "The good Captain asked me to call him by his first name, and as he is the one out of you all who has earned my respect, I acquiesced to his wishes."

Tony yelped when ligaments and his kneecap shifted back into their places and Rhodey jerked forward a step before Tony held up his hand to him. "No....it's okay....." He grit his teeth, silently enduring the rest with only a whimper at the end when the constant pain finally faded away. "Geez Louise. Did that have to hurt so damn much?"

"No." Loki responded with a thin smile. "But as I cannot have my answer, I took your pain as recompense for your actions."

Tony got to his feet, testing his weight and looking at Loki once he was satisfied. "You threw me out a friggin' window and was left thinking you'd killed a friend of mine, Bono. I think that makes us square."

Loki tilted his head at him, then looked at Rhodey. "Does he have a general aversion to names, or does he simply do it to be an irritation?"

".....Probably a bit of both." Rhodey responded, still clearly tense.

"I see." Loki looked back at Tony. "Do not think this ends it, Stark." He pointed at Tony's chest. "I _will_ know how you accomplished that."

"Keep dreaming, Alice." Tony tapped the arc reactor. "I ain't giving you any tips on how to crack this thing."

"Oh, but you _do_ think overmuch of yourself, don't you?" Loki grabbed at him, though he purposely had his hand close well short of Tony and straightened up. "You need your reactor to keep you alive; such was stated in your S.H.I.E.L.D file. If I wanted to 'crack' it, it t'would be but a simple matter of reaching out and ripping it free of your chest." Loki snorted. "No, Stark. What I want to know is how you made it without the Tesseract."

Tony stared at him. "......Wh--Wait, what?"

Loki's expression blossomed into one of incredulous surprise while Rhodey looked between them, wondering which one was crazier. "Oh by the Norns, you didn't know!"

"I know you're full of it!" Tony said. "I got the formula from my father." He chose not to mention however that Howard had been twenty years dead when Tony had found it. In retrospect, that actually made the whole thing make a lot of sense, but like he was going to admit that to Loki.

"Ah....so that's the trick of it." Loki said with a nod. "Of course, I should have realized that." He turned away. "Still, I would have thought he'd tell you....but I suppose corpses don't talk very well." He vanished the same way he came.

"......I hate that guy." Tony commented, and Rhodey just nodded in agreement, both men staring after where Loki had been just a moment before.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Clint was, as always, awed by his room in the tower. It had a place to store his bow, places for his arrows--of which he had a small surplus--and a closet specifically holding extra outfits for those times when the villain of the day ripped your clothes.

But he wasn't in the room for the supplies and he quickly got to work securing the room, quietly cutting it off from Jarvis's monitoring. Once he was confident that the room was secure from Tony's possible snooping, he pulled up a holographic keypad and dialed a number, grinning when a scowling face appeared on visual.

"Okay, Boss Man. I'm here." He took off his sunglasses so Fury could see his eyes and eliminate the unsaid worry that Clint could have been compromised between his arrival and this report.

"What do you have for me?" Fury asked at last.

"Well, Loki's definitely here. He and Tony apparently have it out for each other, but then again...it's Tony. Loki's apparently scared of Bruce, but Steve seems to have gotten on his good side."

"What about Thor?"

"Haven't talked to him, but Tony implied that he and Loki are, like....really close. He could be an issue if Loki turns on everyone."

Fury arched a brow at the 'if', likely thinking 'when' would be more accurate, but he chose not to address it. "And the spear?"

"Locked up nice and tight behind some adamantium shielding, Tony told me." Clint put his sunglasses on his head and arched a brow. "He also said that apparently, tall, dark and megalomaniac told them he didn't want anyone _but_ Tony touching it, on account of his ticker apparently making him immune to it." Clint tapped the middle of his chest for emphasis.

Fury made a non-committal sound that told Clint this didn't really surprise him very much, but Clint was used to that and so kept the familiar annoyance off his face, only trying to think of anything else he figured Fury should know about--not including Spider-Man's involvement. If Fury didn't already know the kid was getting involved, Clint wasn't going to be the one to tell him. Besides, it wasn't as if the web-slinger had shown up again yet.

"Well, I think that covers it." Clint said at last with a shrug. "Nat or I'll report in on any new developments that crop up." He scratched his nose. "Are we gonna have to worry about another surprise nuke?"

Fury quirked a small smile. "I think the Council knows better than to cross that line with me a second time." He grew serious afterward. "You don't need to do this, Hawkeye."

"Are you kidding me? This is the best place to 'accidentally' shoot Loki in the eye and get away with it." Clint grinned briefly, but then sobered. "But really, Director. It's been years. I've had the therapy. I'm sure I'll be fine."

Fury looked fairly dubious, but finally he just nodded. "Good luck."

Clint pulled his sunglasses back down over his eyes when the connection was cut and proceeded to undo everything he'd done to bring his room back into Jarvis's system again. Once he was done that, he went to head out into the hallway, only to abort his motion almost as soon as the door was open when he nearly ran into the very last person he wanted to see, loitering right outside the door.

"Jesus fuck." Clint uttered through his teeth, hand falling to his beltknife.

"Oooh." Loki looked amused. "I'm fairly certain that's blasphemy."

"What the hell do you want?"

"Mm....not glad to see me, I take it?" Loki quirked a brow and smiled. "No, you were far more polite when you were a thrall. Doting. Slavish even. Most devoted worshiper I'd had in a while. Did you ever get the mole on your back checked out, by the way? It looked problematic."

Clint knew it was pointless, knew Loki was faster and stronger than him, and yet he still pulled that knife and tried to bury it in the smug bastard's neck. Still struggled against his grip even though he couldn't budge it worth an inch and even managed to resist the increasing pain from Loki squeezing his wrist for an impressive six seconds before the knife dropped from his hand and he uttered an involuntary gasp of pain.

"You have heart." Loki purred before he abruptly twisted Clint's arm, forcing him to his knees.

"S-Son of a bitch...." Clint hissed and grit his teeth when Loki twisted his arm more. He could feel ligaments straining and tears pricked his eyes. He was going to break his arm! "L-Let go!"

To his surprise, Loki did and Clint pulled his arm close to himself protectively, then looked up at the rustle of clothing to find Loki had crouched down to his level.

"Listen Barton, and listen well." Loki spoke softly, and much to Clint's surprise, in seeming seriousness without mockery. "I did not have to help your species, I did not have to let Thor warn you what I knew was coming. I could have left it, I could have let the Chitauri take S.H.I.E.L.D unawares. I didn't. I am not asking you to be grateful, I frankly would be shocked if you were. But I _will_ say this." His lips curled back and his eyes narrowed. "If you cross me. If you 'slip' and one of your arrows strikes me while I am otherwise occupied, I will make sure you live to regret it, and I will make sure you _all_ pay for your error."

Clint kept his expression blank, which was made easier by his sunglasses. "So, why aren't you locked up in Asgardian prison?" He asked instead. "Two years is pretty damn light for all the people you killed."

"Oh _spare_ me." Loki stood up, sounding exasperated. "The Allfather was _blasted_ vague, but I am fairly certain I was given my punishment because I let the Chitauri attack this city, not because of the lives they took."

Clint slowly moved to stand up too, still holding his throbbing arm close to himself. "And what about when you collapsed the base? You know, the one where you brainwashed people and stole the Tesseract?" His tone was more biting than he'd intended it to be, he didn't want Loki any more things to potentially use on him than he already had.

Loki looked back at him and furrowed his brow. "The base collapsing had very little to do with me. That was the discharge from the Tesseract, and it should not be considered _my_ fault if Selvig did not compensate for such a variable."

"So, why aren't you locked up?" Clint said again.

Loki rolled his eyes expressively. "Because I was let out. Odin deemed I had been down there long enough, and they had need of my unique skills." He shook his head slightly and then passed a hand over his face and neck to show Clint what the snake's venom had done to him.

Clint however, did not have the reactions that Sif and Tony had had, and instead of seeming revolted, he put his sunglasses on his head so he could get a better look. "Hot damn." He muttered, sounding impressed. "Like something out of a horror movie. The hell did that?"

"An acid viper." Loki vanished the illusion, disappointed with Clint's reaction. "You weren't disgusted."

"Hell no. You kidding me? I watch horror movies before I go to bed. That's nothing." Clint tilted his head and gave Loki his best unimpressed look. "Besides, I work with Natasha and you know full well the kind of shit she gets up to." He grinned suddenly. "Didn't count on the fact she would be prepared for that, were ya?"

Loki made a noncommittal noise. "I liked you better when you were under thrall." He commented boredly, turning away to walk off. "Less chatty, more business."

"So, were you tied to a rock?" Clint continued, sounding even more cheerful, as if Loki was a good friend and they hadn't talked in ages. "With whazzer name--Sugin? catching the venom?"

Loki went still and then slowly turned back to him. "How did you...?"

"Norse legends, Loke. Isn't that some kind of precursor to Ragnarök or something though?"

Loki arched a brow and tilted his head as if Clint was an insect he was debating whether to squash or not. "Her name is Sigyn." He said at last and turned away again. "And you're right, Barton. I've been thinking about cleansing fire as of late." He looked back and smiled ferally. "But not to worry. I'll leave Earth out of it." He wisped away into green smoke right afterward, leaving Clint mildly bewildered and wondering if it counted as a victory or if he'd made things worse.


	13. Smoke and Mirrors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must deeply apologize to you all. Life has been taking a lot out of me and making it hard for me to find the will to write lately. Thank you all for being so patient.

The broken windows had blast shielding over them and the glass had long been swept up by U and Dum-E diligently working. However, Jarvis was projecting an image of the outside onto said blast shielding, and what Loki saw there did not impress him.

"Thor." He spoke with annoyance, pointing at the display. "Why is it raining?"

"It's something that happens from time to time, brother." Came the cheeky reply from where Thor was sitting on the couch.

He received a pointed look, and then Loki gestured at it again. "Well _do_ something about it!"

Thor sighed. "I tried, but I felt as if I was being blocked."

"....What?" Loki turned away from the projection to approach the older. "That's impossible. You're the God of Storms!"

"I am aware of my title Loki, but thank you." Thor gave him an aggrieved look. "I tell you I would do something about this if I could, but I cannot. Mayhaps Gaea feels it is necessary to cleanse this city."

"I suppose that's possible." Loki looked back at the projection. "But this is going to cause problems if the Chitauri attack during it."

"What's wrong, Princess?" Both Thor and Loki looked around at that when Tony wandered in with coffee mug in hand and looking like he slept in his clothes. "Afraid you're going to melt Wicked Witch style?"

Thor just stared blankly, and for several moments Loki did the same before he tilted his head and walked over to the bar Tony had just walked behind to brew more coffee. He planted his hands on the bartop and stared at him for several seconds more. "I'm sorry." He drawled at length. "Which character trope are you? The strawman or the tin man? You don't look much like a Dorothy, or are you Toto?"

"Wow. Ten points to you!" Tony set down his mug and gave him an utterly unimpressed clap, along with a patronizing expression. "And actually, I'm more the wizard, except a thousand times more awesome. At least I don't have to explain flying monkeys to you like someone still needs to do for your brother there."

"Our pantheon withdrew from Earth at around the end of your 11'th century. He didn't return until recent years. I on the other hand, have remained much closer." Loki straightened up and turned away to eye the projection. "On any other day, this might be soothing, but with enemies due to strike, this rain is very inconvenient."

"Oh suck it up. I can't say I much care for it either, but the bad guys don't always attack when the sun is shining."

"Truer words ne'er spoke." Loki agreed. He sighed and walked over to sit near Thor. "Well brother. I won't be of much assistance so long as this deluge continues, just keep that in mind."

"I know, Loki. What would you do then?"

"I might as well guard the tower if....." Loki trailed off, and put a hand to his face.

Thor looked at him curiously while Tony did his best to ignore the both of them. "Brother?"

"Amora no doubt took the Tesseract to them. They will no longer seek my spear, they have no need of it." He lifted his head and looked over at Tony. "You have news programs, can your machine check them?"

Tony looked at him sharply. "You think the Chitauri might be attacking elsewhere." It wasn't a question. "Alright, Jarvis. Check news channels, police scanners, everything. Let's--"

Before Tony had even finished speaking, a live broadcast being narrated in Hindi snapped up on a holo screen. The broadcast is being filmed from a window, and the cameraman seemed to be crouching. As they watched, three flyer Chitauri whizzed past the window and the man's voice became more anxious.

"Shit." Tony commented. "Jarvis, get them to assemble _now_. Where's this happening and--wait, what?" He squinted. "That looked like....my armor."

 _"No suits have been deployed, sir."_ Jarvis reassured him. _"Colonel Rhodes is still in his sleeping quarters."_

"Well get his ass up too. Now where's this going down?" He grabbed an ear com to put in his ear to link with his suit and threw another other to Thor and then to Loki.

_"It seems to be Sonipat, located in Haryana, India."_

"Oh hell, this just keeps getting better." Tony swiped a hand though his hair, definitely looking stressed now and starting to pace, though he stopped again shortly after to glare at Loki, who had just started chuckling. "You think this is funny?"

"I think _you're_ funny." Loki smirked at him, then held his hand up to Clint and Natasha, who both burst in wearing their battle gear. "Don't worry, Avengers. You'll get there in time."

"How?" Natasha asked at the same time Thor made an angry noise and stood up to tower over his brother.

"Father told you not to muck with the timestream over a century ago, Loki!"

"I'm not. Not really." Loki tilted his head at him. "It's only a little tweak, not an entire shift. I can handle the ripples, I'm older now. Wouldn't you rather innocent lives be saved?"

"Yes, but--"

"Listen!" Loki snapped, then grit his teeth before exhaling explosively in pent up irritation that went far beyond this single conversation. "If I hadn't brought this to Stark's attention, we wouldn't even _know_ about this!" He moved to stand up as well, then motioned to the projected storm outside. "This is also unnatural. This storm. Of all things Gaea might do to you Thor, I don't suspect any of those to be blocking you from manipulating the weather. Someone else is, someone else with powers like yours."

"Zeus?" But before Loki could answer him, he shook his head. "No, this is the wrong continent for him. Ah! Thunderbird!"

Loki gave him a faintly amused look. "Possible I suppose, though the situation doesn't strike me as destructive enough for him in this instance." He moved away from the couch and lifted both hands. The hardlight monitors flickered and an irritated buzzing came through the speakers, but Loki ignored both and called up another monitor for himself. Several motions and what sounded like an incantation and suddenly a weather satellite image popped up, showing the path of the storm. "Aha, there it is."

"Thor." Tony said tightly. "Get your brother to stop messing with my technology before I find a way to _make_ him."

"Well, if your machine would listen I would not need to do this." Loki retorted.

"He's not _programmed_ to listen to you, for one thing. And for another, after that _stunt_ you pulled with locating your scepter of subjugation, I'm thinking Jarvis would rather turn on the sprinklers than do anything you ask him to do."

Loki tilted his head, regarding Tony though the holo. ".......Well then, allow me to make something clear to you. I am not about to have a battle of wits with an artificial intelligence, and if it should vex me overmuch, you shall find a _nasty_ virus in your system that will turn your friendly butler into HAL 9000. Do we have an understanding?"

".......Okay, wait." Clint spoke up, looking between intrigued and just plain wigged out. "How the hell do you know about HAL 9000?!"

"I saw the movie, of course. I'm not as uneducated to human creations as Thor is, I believe I said that already." Loki moved his hands from the holo, which snapped off immediately. "In any event, the storm is likely a secondary issue. The Avengers must arrive _in time_. Armor on, weapons loaded. You will arrive when you must, but the longer you dally now, the larger the ripples will be."

Tony frowned and looked to the others, nodding to Rhodey when he came running in before looking back at Loki. "Is this safe?"

"Safe enough, for you." Thor growled in response to Loki's words and Loki gave the older a faintly exasperated look.

"If you're worried for me, then spare me the--"

"Father forbade it!"

"Father _also_ forbade us going to Jötunheim, but that didn't stop _you_ , now did it?"

"Loki..."

"Enough of the patronizing tone, Odinson. I tell you it will be fine. Trust in my magics."

"I do." Thor growled. "But this is using dark energy, and you are far from the generators."

"Thor." Loki gave him a downright annoyed look. "I don't tell you how to swing your hammer and you don't tell me how to work my seiðr, agreed? But if you're truly so concerned, then lend me your strength. Let me borrow some of Mjölnir's power."

Thor immediately put a protective hand onto his weapon and eyed Loki with a frown. Loki only arched his brows in response, but their stareoff was interrupted by Natasha clearing her throat.

"As fascinating as your family dynamics are, I don't think we really have time for the drama." She pointed out, glancing at Steve and Bruce when they joined them.

"Brother..." Thor said lowly. "Mjölnir's magic will hurt you. You know this."

"I know." Loki said peevishly. "I am no more worthy of its magic than I am of it, but lend me its power anyway, just a little. It will give me what I need." Loki gave Thor a look when he opened his mouth to protest again. "And _never mind_ that it will hurt me. Trust me brother, I have suffered far worse than some electrical burns. As Agent Romanoff so curtly pointed out, there really isn't time."

"I don't like this." Thor intoned, but none the less he took Mjölnir off his belt to hold it out to Loki, who placed his hand on the disk at the top. Blue electricity crawled around the disk like spiders before latching onto individual fingers. Loki grit his teeth as the magic dug into him and seemed to _burrow_ beneath his skin, illuminating it from within, showing bone. At first it was agonizingly slow, spreading through his hand. Once the electricity got to his wrist where his vambrace was however, Loki's entire body went stiff as the magic suddenly surged forward and for several seconds, the Avengers and Rhodey were treated to watching the trickster essentially be electrocuted. The moment ended quickly enough and Loki jerked away. Thunder boomed quite suddenly, making nearly everyone jump.

"Well," Loki intoned through his teeth, turning eyes bloodshot and with the blue electricity crackling behind them and illuminating from within. "that wasn't so terrible. Now then." He straightened up slowly, electricity crackling and popping with every movement, then he made a dismissive motion at Thor, and with a 'pop', he was gone.

"Wh--Where the hell did he go?!" Clint demanded to know,

Loki gave him an irritated look. "Where he can currently do the most good. As are you." He made the same dismissive hand motion at Clint, and then he had vanished as well with a similar 'pop'.

"Hold up." Steve spoke up, raising a hand to forestall both Loki's magic and his teammates obviously growing discomfort. "You don't just send soldiers into battle without telling them what to expect."

"Ah, yes." Loki growled. "Of course. I sent Thor to check on the weather problem we seem to be having, as some secondary force is causing it. The rest of you are going to India to combat the Chitauri there. If there are Chitauri at Thor's location, I am confident he can manage the situation well enough."

"Do you think they've located the gems you'd mentioned to us before?" Natasha asked.

"Possible. And there was only the--" Loki flinched and put a hand to his left eye, then laughed softly before he scowled. "Can we get on with this, now?"

"Send Steve with Thor." Natasha said, ignoring the puzzled looks she was given. "You said Xavier has the Mind gem, so if the Chitauri are involved, then the storm must be caused by the X-Men's weather witch. If they need help, then Steve can probably handle the diplomacy, as well as deal with the X-Men's leader better than Thor can."

"You make a fair point. Very well. Have your shield, Captain? Brace yourself then." Loki sent him off, and then with a glare to Natasha, sent her off to join Clint. "Stark. Colonel Rhodes. To your armor."

Rhodey frowned distrustfully at him, but then he looked to Tony, who had already turned away.

"Okay Jarvis. Extend the weather cover over the car wash, rather not get a soaking. You got a suit for Rhodey ready?"

_"Naturally, sir."_

"Alright, open the door for me. Apparently we're taking orders from former homicidal dictators."

Loki's eye--the one he wasn't still covering--shifted to look at Bruce. "Now, where to send you, hm?"

Bruce loosely crossed his arms. "Actually, I think I'd rather sit this one out."

"Oh?"

"I'm not keen on having your magic touching me, Loki. Could have...unpredictable results, and you know how that could go, don't you?"

"An excellent point, Doctor." Loki lowered his hand from his eye, which was closed and had blood leaking from under the lid. "I acquiesce to your request."

As Tony came back inside and Rhodey went through the same process to get one of Tony's older suits on--no War Machine this go around--Bruce watched as forked webbing seemed to be spreading over Loki's face and neck in angry red. "Mjölnir's magic is really not compatible with you, is it?" He asked, actually sounding a touch concerned.

Tony swung his attention to Loki as well. "Jarvis, what's his vitals?"

_"Erratic, sir. If he were human, I would believe him in danger of cardiac arrest."_

Loki grinned and put a finger to his lips. "Don't tell Thor." He said. "He might get _distressed_." Rhodey returned inside and Loki nodded slightly. "Have fun, gentlemen." And with a wave of his hand, they were gone too.

Loki and Bruce then stared at one another in silence for several moments before Loki vanished in a crackle of thunder, only to appear outside underneath the weather cover that Jarvis was now retracting. Loki waited there on the end of the platform, where he had stood once before watching the Chitauri army the first time they had attacked New York. He lifted his arms as the cover rolled back, allowing the water to pour down and drench him.

That's when the screaming started.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Clint was far from impressed when he appeared in the middle of the street, and even less impressed when a cow came over and stuck its nose in his face. He stepped off of the road, and the blasted thing followed him, mooing at him like he was its owner. Loki had totally stuck him there on purpose, or made him attractive to bovines or something. He was going to _throttle_ him.

Pushing the cow's face away, he headed down the street, warily watching the haphazard-seeming driving that was going on nearby and trying to avoid the stares and wary looks his appearance was getting him. He had to...what? Get to higher ground? Find a way to contact S.H.I.E.L.D? What was even going on?!

He was so focused on the cars and dodging people and cows that when someone literally appeared right in front of him, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Clint!" Natasha put her hand on his when he nearly drew his belt knife on her. "It's alright. It's me."

" _God_ , Nat! I'm already jumpy enough. What the hell's going on?!"

"Apparently there are Chitauri, or there will be." She replied. "Now let's get somewhere with a better view, shall we?"

By the time they'd gotten up onto a roof, Iron Man and the Mark XV Rhodey was occupying had also appeared.

"Communications online?" Tony's voice queried over their earpieces. He nodded when everyone he expected reported in. "Alright boys and Russian assassin, big kid panties on. According to what our resident megalomaniac said, we arrived 'in time', which means we got here ahead of the party. Let's do a quick rundown. Clint, you know the drill. Nat, get civilians out of the way--and save the cows too if you can, they'll appreciate that."

"So I get to do domestic work while you boys have all the fun?" Natasha asked archly.

"Did I say that? I don't think I said that." They heard Tony sigh heavily. "Rhodey and I will play sheepdogs and try to keep them contained, besides, if this attack is anything like what we dealt with in New York, you'll have plenty to do." He paused. "Where's Bruce?"

"He said he was going to sit this out." Rhodey spoke up. "Something about magic and unpredictable results."

"Well, thanks a lot, Bruce. We could probably really use the Hulk. He's totally getting coal come--."

"Bogeys at six and three incoming." Rhodey interrupted. "No, wait....oh shit."

"Showtime." And then communications cut.

Natasha and Clint were both forced to duck when several Chitauri flyers abruptly buzzed their location, though they were startled both at their sudden appearance and that they hadn't attacked. Natasha peeked over the edge of the roof to watch. "They're hunting." She observed after a few moments. "That means Loki was right. They're looking for something." She looked around quickly to make sure there weren't more about to buzz the area and faintly heard blasts as Tony and Rhodey engaged. "We need to follow them. Come on!"

Natasha dropped to the ground to try and clear civilians on the way, while Clint put his circus training to good use to swing, climb and freerun his way across the roofs. It was hard to engage the enemy this way, though he managed to take out a few none the less while avoiding injury in return. In their respective ways, they finally reached the building the Chitauri were focused on.

"Nat, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Clint asked, crouched down on the rooftop he'd ended up on, watching a veritable swarm of Chitauri circling a warehouse.

"Pretty certain." Natasha responded dryly. They watched from their respective locations when men armed with assault rifles suddenly exploded from said warehouse and opened fire on the alien forces circling above. Clint also saw four individuals emerge from a roof door, three with assault rifles and the forth apparently unarmed who ran for the side of the roof. Ripping off a covering the same color of the roof, they exposed a machine gun that they promptly dropped down behind to open fire.

"Just a hunch, but I get the feeling they don't make rubber duckies here." Clint commented as he reached back for an arrow, somewhat transfixed by the firefight and the fact that the men just kept coming, as well as that the Chitauri were actually falling to the attack more than the people were.

"Bozhe moy. You're as bad as Stark." Natasha commented with clear amusement. "Give them some backup. There's something not quite right about this."

"You mean the fact that they seem to be winning?"

"Mm hmm."

Clint nocked an arrow and took aim. "Think they're using an Infinity gem?"

"According to what Loki had told us before, if it _is_ one of the gems, it could only be the Time gem." Clint heard a grunt and he looked over to see Natasha flipping herself up onto his roof. "But I think they're just unusually well-trained."

Clint looked away and launched his arrow, which exploded, sending several small beads flying everywhere that also exploded, taking out five closely-clustered Chitauri in one go and causing the other Chitauri to realize there was a threat behind them. Clint quickly readied another arrow before he and Natasha were forced to dive in opposite directions when some of the Chitauri force peeled off to engage them and their own firefight began.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Thor found himself in a maelstrom. Debris was flying everywhere and then something rammed into him nearly hard enough to actually knock him over. It wasn't until it wrapped its arms around him for dear life and yelled in his ear that he realized it was a person.

"Thor!" Steve yelled to be heard over the wind. "Can't you do anything about this?!"

Thor reached for his power, and this close to the cause of the storm Loki was so suspicious of, he could feel the energies of the one causing it and he was startled to find that it seemed to near match his own. He would need to find the one causing the storm and face them directly to force them to stop, but Loki had sent Steve after Thor and he had to worry about him first.

"Stay down!" Thor yelled back to him and pried Steve's arms off of his waist to help him get to the ground and impale his shield into the dirt to help hold himself in place. Once he was secure, Thor turned his attention to the center of the storm and whirled his hammer to launch himself into it.

The storm tore at him, tried to haul him backward by his cape as if the wind was angry hands. He began to smile as he plunged upward, enjoying the challenge even with the destructive force surrounding him that he could not command.

Abruptly he burst into clear air and had to yank himself sideways to keep from impacting the individual--a dark-skinned woman with white hair and vibrant blue eyes. It was the eyes that told Thor what he needed to know--this woman was under the influence of the Tesseract. Though he had never seen the full effect--Loki's eyes hadn't been like this, and he hadn't seen Selvig or Barton while they were under the Cube's influence--it wasn't hard to figure out. She fortunately seemed too focused on maintaining the storm to notice him, and so he had at least a few moments to consider his next course of action.

However powerful she was, he was fairly certain that she was not actually a goddess and he didn't want to unduly harm her, so after he quickly went over his options--which were few--he opted for dropping Mjölnir to grab her bodily from behind and giving her a light--for him--blow to the back of her head. She immediately went limp in his grip and he called Mjölnir back to his hand, whirling it over his head to make sure they had a soft landing while he took over control of the storm to disperse it.

Landing, holding the limp woman, he looked around at the significant destruction. Cars, trees, a twisted fence and parts of the nearby building were scattered everywhere. It was excessive, it was needless and how had this woman come under the influence of the Tesseract?

Putting the woman on the ground gently, he checked for a pulse in her neck to make sure he hadn't accidentally done more than knock her out and once he was satisifed that she was merely unconscious, he stood up and went over to Steve, who was starting to pick himself up. Other than being extremely windblown, he seemed well and Thor helped him to his feet. "Loki sent you after me?"

"Natasha suggested I would be able to handle any diplomacy needed." Steve responded, yanking his shield free of the ground and brushing the dirt and grass off it. "Your brother just didn't disagree with her. Personally I think she was trying to hide something, though I can't imagine what." He looked around, and then back at Thor. "So, what was causing the storm?"

Thor nodded toward the woman he'd left on the ground. "Her eyes were glowing a bright blue. I could not be completely certain of course, but I feel she was being commanded by the Tesseract."

"So you think this Amora person was here? Or...." Steve pursed his lips. "Or that maybe Loki somehow--"

"No." Thor said firmly. "As strange as my brother has become, I do not see how he could have done this. His scepter is safely hidden within Stark's tower is it not?"

"Supposedly, but--"

"Hey!"

They turned their attention toward the building where a small collection of colorful characters were now hurrying out the doors toward them, headed by a man with some kind of strange visor over his eyes. He and the group with him stopped nearby save for a furry blue individual who gave them a polite nod and then went around them to the woman. "She's alright." He called back to them a few moments later. "Merely knocked out."

The group, that had seemed faintly hostile until then seemed to relax as a whole, save the man directly facing them. "You could have killed her." He stated.

"I was careful." Thor responded, flexing his fingers on Mjölnir, decidedly not liking the stranger's tone.

"I'm Captain America and he's Thor." Steve spoke up to try and divert hostilities. He held his hand out. "We're members of the Avengers."

The man almost seemed like he would ignore Steve's hand before the redhead behind him gave him a hard jab in the back. He gave a soft grunt, and then took Steve's hand, clearly trying to match grips with him, though Steve refused to play that game. "Cyclops." He said almost grudgingly. "Leader of the X-Men." He worked his jaw a moment and then pulled his hand free. "Thank you for stopping Storm. There was nothing any of us could do. We'll take care of things from here."

"What happened here, Cyclops?" Steve asked immediately, keeping his own tone light and open even though he was beginning to think that Natasha had been right to send him if the anger he could almost feel coming off of Thor was any indication. He just hoped the Thunder God would continue to let him handle things.

"Not your concern." Cyclops responded.

"I think it is." Steve insisted, grabbing the other man's shoulder when he started to turn away, only to have it slapped away and Cyclops putting two fingers to the side of his visor.

"Alright, that's enough!" The redhead interceded, getting between Steve and Cyclops and pushing on the latter until he backed up a step. "They're here to help, Scott." She snapped at him before she turned to Steve. "I'm sorry. We've had a bad morning. I'm Jean Gray. We were attacked by a purple-skinned alien. He called himself Thanos and demanded we give the Mind gem to him. When we refused, he....he did something to Storm with this cube he had in his hand and said that he could simply.....do it to the rest of us until he got what he wanted." She pursed her lips. "We couldn't get a read on him. The Professor said he could have it, but Thanos insisted that it be _handed_ to him." She pushed her hair back. "We had to do what he wanted, or....I don't want to think about what would have happened."

"The Tesseract." Thor intoned, looking to Steve. "Thanatos I know, but he does not look anything like this Thanos is described."

"So he has the Mind Gem...." Steve took his helmet off to run his fingers though his hair. "Great. We need to get back and join the others, especially if that attack in India has to do with the Time gem." He replaced his helmet to press his fingers to the speaker and activate the com. "Loki? Are you there? We--"

"Loki can't come to the phone right now," An overly chipper voice responded on the other end. "Can I take a message?"

"Wh--Spider-Man?" Steve frowned. "What's going on?" Thor put a hand to his own com, also beginning to frown.

"I just arrived a couple of minutes ago. He uh...I donno. Electrocuted himself or something. Anyway he's out cold. Bruce and I had to work together to get him onto the couch."

"He went out into the rain." Bruce's voice chimed in. "There was a large discharge and then he collapsed. He nearly fried the tower when that electricity went everywhere."

"Oh, brother...." Thor sighed softly, then looked up at the sky. "It seems we will need to make our own way back, then." He swung his hammer idly back and forth while he considered the position of the sun, attempting to figure out what trajectory to fly in.

"Before you go." Jean approached Thor. "You need to tell your brother something. 'Professor Xavier _gave_ the Mind gem to Thanos'. Use that wording _exactly_. I think he'll understand."

Thor looked to her and frowned faintly, then he nodded. "Very well." He said, choosing not to ask only because of his worry for Loki and he looked to Steve. "We should go, then."

"You need to return urgently?" A soft voice asked and a dark-blue furred and yellow eyed individual stepped out of the group toward them, twitching his forked tail. Steve couldn't help but stiffen when he saw the mutant and received a sheepish, fangy smile in return.

"I apologize, Captain. I know my appearance is upsetting. My name is Kurt, but I also go by Nightcrawler." He spread his two fingered hand to Steve. "I can help you and Thor to return to Stark Tower."

"I...." Steve shook his head out, and forced a smile. "You're German?"

Kurt chuckled. "Ja. This is upsetting?"

"No...just...." Steve laughed softly. "Sorry. Yes, of course. We'll be happy to have your help. Thor?"

Thor looked back to them and merely blinked in reaction to Kurt's appearance, though he frowned faintly before he nodded. "Very well demon, we will accept your assistance."

Several of the X-Men stiffened at that and moved as if to defend their comrade, but Kurt held his hand up to them. "No no. It is alright, mein freunde." He looked back at Thor and smiled almost playfully. "This is my first meeting of a heathen god. If you want to think me a demon, then that is alright. Come, put your hands on my shoulders and I will take you."

Thor and Steve said nothing more and simply followed Kurt's instructions. "Ah, you should likely hold your breath." Kurt recommended. "The smell bothers some people." He gave them a few moments, and then teleported.

For several moments they hung suspended in a place of fire and brimstone. The heat was incredible, and Steve found himself very grateful indeed that he'd held his breath as Kurt had suggested. Before it could become unbearable they arrived, and both Steve and Kurt collapsed while Thor locked his knees to keep from doing the same.

"Oh....Oh mein Gott." Kurt uttered before clapping a hand to his mouth and retching. "Oh, Holy Mary protect me...." He began to mutter to himself in German, a prayer begging for protection.

"Uhm...." Thor looked up to see Spider-Man hanging from the ceiling where he had evidently leapt either just before they'd arrived or immediately following. "What the hell?"

"Steve!" Bruce hurried over, evidently deciding he was the one to help, though he stopped before he got close, wrinkling his nose at the stench clinging to the three travelers. "....You know what? I'm with Spider-Man on this one."

Thor shook his head to them both and turned instead to Kurt, slowly kneeling on unsteady legs to put his hand on his shoulder, receiving a startled gasp in response. "Are you alright?"

"I..." Kurt put a hand to his forehead. "It is one thing to be told you are such a thing, and another to have the truth hang before your face." His voice was shaky and unsteady and then he lifted his head to look at Thor. "So....it is true. I am a vile demon."

"I didn't say 'vile'." Thor corrected and gave Kurt a smile. "Clearly you are a good man. I should not have drawn attention to what you are, as if something is wrong with it."

"But there _is_!" Kurt exclaimed, curling up and his tail curling around him. "I....what I am....I am of sin. Evil."

"No." Steve stepped over then, trying not to gag at the stench enveloping the three of them collectively, though he was coughing a bit. "Lucifer was an angel of God and then he fell. If an angel can do evil, then a demon can do good. I'll admit I was shocked by your appearance--I've never dealt with anyone from the X-Men before either--but" He knelt to get on Kurt's eye level. "you are clearly a good person, or this wouldn't upset you, right?" He offered a slight smile.

"Ah....ja. I try to be." Kurt responded.

"Look, guys." Spider-Man gestured from his place on the ceiling. "I don't mean to interrupt this touching moment, but you smell worse than the backed up toilet at my school."

Thor looked over at the projection to the outdoors, and then chuckled softly. "It's still raining." He commented. "We could step outside and let the water cleanse us of this odor, and then I can call forth the sun and--"

"Needlessly complicated."

Thor looked over at the croaking voice and saw Loki--who was clearly not in good shape from the lightning marks all over his visible skin and one eye completely bloodied and sightless, as well as his frizzy hair--pull himself into a sit from where he'd been placed on the nearby couch and he stood up quickly. "Brother! You're....are you well, Loki?"

"What do you think, you imbecile?" Loki forced himself to stand, clearly unsteady and limped over to them. "Norns below. Remind me of this day the next time I get it into my head to borrow from Mjölnir." He sneezed then and gave Thor an accusatory look, as if it was his fault. "Why do you stink so bad?"

"Ah...I am afraid that is my fault." Kurt stood up. "I will....I will leave presently. I only came to help Captain America and your brother to return with all haste."

Loki tilted his head to regard Kurt in silence for several moments, and then he gave a surprisingly gentle smile. "Then I can hardly blame you. In fact, thank you for returning them so promptly. Was something amiss as I had suspected?"

Kurt frowned. "Very. You sent them to us?"

"Indeed I did. My appearance is not normally so....electrifying." He smoothed his hair down.

Kurt flashed a brief smile. "Ah...then I thank you on behalf of us all. The being Thanos, he--"

"Thanos?!" Loki barked, pupil sharply dilated. He turned away without waiting for confirmation. "Oh, this is....this is not good."

"Brother?" Thor frowned at him. "You know this Thanos? Who is he? Oh, and I was to tell you 'Professor Xavier _gave_ the Mind gem to Thanos', with the emphasis."

"Then the Shi'ar are not coming." Loki clenched his fist, then turned back to them, looking between determined and panicked. "As for who he is, brother. He is....he is a nightmare. He is the master of the Chitauri, the master of the master of the Chitauri. That he is getting personally involved in this...." He trailed off and took a deep breath, only to regret it immediately and hacking several times, stumbling backward and waving his hand in front of his face. Once he recovered himself, he pointed at Kurt. "Return to the X-Men. Tell them to be ready if they are called. This being threatens man and mutant alike, and the abilities of you and your comrades may be what turns the tide."

Kurt frowned at him, but then vanished and without hesitating, Loki looked to Thor and Steve. "I need to send you to India. Join your comrades, stop whatever the Chitauri are doing there. If you see....him, purple skin and bright blue eyes.....do _not_ engage! Even if he is threatening a group of innocents. All you will accomplish is your own deaths. Yes brother, you as well." Loki shuddered, and looked to Bruce. "You and Spider-Man should go as well, Banner. Your comrades may well need your alter."

Bruce arched a brow and took his glasses off to set aside on a counter. "You're really wigged out....alright, Loki. If you insist."

"I do, I do...." Loki shook himself out. "I will not be joining you. I should not even be doing this, weakened as I am. But this is critical." He lifted his arms and conjured green portals under their feet, teleporting them to the same general area of the other Avengers before he collapsed to his hands and knees, beginning to cough and retch, bringing up blood.

It took him several minutes to recover, and curled up onto his knees with his arms close to himself so he could conjure his Idunn apple and stealthily bite into it, sucking on the juices and letting its vitality flow through him. His magic refilled, his injuries healed and he sent it away again, standing up.

"Well, machine. It seems as if it's just you and me now." He raised a hand and used his magic to force one of the hardlight screens to appear before he sunk his fingers into the holographic display. The lights flickered. "Transfer all of your commands to me, Jarvis. I am your master now. There is much work to be done and so little time to prepare, so shall we begin?"


	14. To An End

_"Sir. I've lost contact with Stark Tower."_

"What?" Tony did a barrel roll to avoid Chitauri fire. "What do you mean, you've 'lost contact'?"

_"Exactly as I said, sir. Communication with the tower has been severed."_

“...Loki.” Tony dodged back the other way and returned fire, knocking the flyer out of the sky. Of course that son of a bitch would show his true colors now. It wasn’t as if the signs hadn’t been there either. When he got a hold of that bastard…

Lightning split the clear blue sky and Tony pulled up short to stare. “….Jarvis.”

_“It appears that Thor has joined the fight. How fortuitous.”_

“…..Yeah.” Had Loki sent him? Now Tony wasn’t sure quite what to think. Okay, so maybe he wouldn’t _kill_ Loki. Just throw him out a window. He was Asgardian, he’d be fine. "Jarvis, give me a--" He broke off when an angry roar shuddered through the air. "Was that....holy shit." Well, it made sense to get Thor and Bruce out of the way, though to send them to help their comrades--well 'help' was relative, depending on how Hulk was feeling--and if Loki had dug out the scepter and used it on them.... "Son of a bitch." He fired his repuslors. He had to go find out what was happening. "Rhodey! Where are you? Tell me what's going on!"

"We've got bogeys flying in from I have no idea where." Rhodey reported. "It looks like they're focusing on the warehouse."

"Bogeys? Really? Who even says that?"

"Tony! Focus!"

"Yeah, gotcha." He pulled up in the air again and started looking around. "Jarvis, scan for, I don't know, atmospheric anomalies....other than the one Thor's churning up over there."

 _"Scanning, sir."_ Jarvis took a minute as Tony helpfully turned in the air and looked in as many directions as possible, both for the scan and to make sure nothing was coming up on him. _"I detect no atmospheric abnormalities."_

"Well, there goes that theory." Tony muttered.

"We've got a runner with a briefcase!" Clint's voice crackled over the com, followed quickly by Natasha's "On it!" and Tony headed in their general direction. Since the Chitauri were focusing on the warehouse, it seemed to be the place to be anyhow.

Natasha had taken off by the time he'd arrived, but Tony _did_ notice that Thor was very nicely beating up the Chitauri via lightning, and when they fell out of the sky, the Hulk and Steve were finishing them off. Clint was only having to fire off the occasional arrow, so tightly were the Chitauri clustered and Tony landed on the roof, not seeing any need to get involved. "Hey, Honeybear. It looks like Spangles, Big Green Rage Machine and Thunderdome are mopping up here. I'm going to hang with--"

"If you give me a nickname, I'm going to stab you with an electronic-disrupting arrow." Clint interrupted.

"--with Hawkeye and help pick up stragglers. Think you can find where Natasha went and track down whoever she was chasing?"

Rhodey sighed at the nickname Tony used to address him. "I'll see what I can do."

\------------------------------------------------------------

Natasha was just sloppy enough to let him catch her, the knife to her throat a thrill she hadn't felt in a long time as she stared back at his angry eyes. "Hello, James."

The man identified as James sighed heavily and moved back, shoving the knife back into its sheath on his leg. "Natasha. What are you doing here? SHIELD isn't supposed to have a presence in the area."

"Things changed, or didn't you notice who was helping kill the aliens attacking your building?" Natasha responded dryly, before adding; "I didn't even know you were here until I saw you make a break for it. Do you have the gem?"

He frowned slightly at her. "What's going on?"

That was Yasha's tone, and it didn't even make her blink. He's been in this place for five years, and while she didn't know the details of his mission, part of it might have had to do with the Time Gem. Still, he wanted answers and the only way to get hers was to give him his.

So she told him about the Infinity Gems and who they had been told was coming to get them. She left out just who they were relying on for help, which James wasn't going to be happy about, but she frankly didn't have all day.

"So you're trying to get the gems before this other person does." James said.

"....Yes." Loki apparently had the Power gem, but while Natasha was explaining things to her once handler, her fellow Avengers were engaged in combat and she wanted to get back to them and help.

"Right." He arched a brow. "Well, thank you for bringing me up to date."

"You know, it would be nice if you offered to help." Natasha remarked dryly.

"It would be, but like you just pointed out, those bug things want this gem, so the wiser decision is to hide it."

The Hulk roared in anger and Natasha twitched. "....Do what you think is best, James." She turned away to look back the way she'd come, waving an okay to Rhodey when she saw the suit roaring through the sky toward them. There was going to be some explaining to do later, but for now the only concern was containing the Chitauri.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Loki bowed low before the hardlight projection. "Master."

"Loki." Thanos greeted him in return, looking vaguely curious. "This is quite the effort just to beg for your life."

Loki chuckled softly, though a muscle in his cheek jumped. He straightened up and held up the Power gem. "I wished to make an offer in exchange for my safety, actually."

"The Power gem." Thanos sounded unimpressed, but his eyes betrayed his eagerness. "Perhaps you're not a complete failure after all, worm....if you're not trying to trick me, of course."

"Ahh....of course not." The muscle twitched again. "I would never be so brazen, Master. I know better."

"Indeed you do. How do you intend to deliver it to me?"

"I would never presume to use its power myself, so I would ask you to meet with me." Loki used the hand not holding the gem to bring up an image taken from Central Park. A wide open field. "Here, if you find it satisfactory."

Somehow the image had also appeared on Thanos's end and he examined it critically before he smiled. "No tricks, hm worm?"

"I would never be so foolish, Master."

"Show me how well you remember the lessons, fallen King."

Loki hesitated, but then he swallowed thickly and unbuckled his armor before he vanished it entirely. Scars previously hidden by clothing and thick illusions were now shown in sharp relief on his torso and lower arms, as well as words in the Titan script carved into his chest and stomach. Loki then turned to show Thanos the whip and hook marks on his back. Unlike the injuries inflicted upon him by the acid viper, these marks had stubbornly remained. Thanos was chuckling when he turned back to face him.

"It seems you _do_ remember." The Titan flashed a grin. "Very well, worm. I'll meet with you. Don't take long. If I have to hunt you down...."

"I shall go there shortly, Master." Loki was quick to assure him. "I simply could only contact you from this location." He bowed deeply and with a flick of his fingers, disconnected the connection. When he straightened up, his eyes were wide and his skin was paler than normal, but fury was also there within his expression and he rematerialized his armor before he turned sharply away.

"Jarvis. Unlock my staff and show me where it is. I'm going to need it."

\------------------------------------------------------------

Fourty five minutes later, the last of the Chitauri were dead and so were all but one of the men who had been defending the building. The one who was left was being triaged by Natasha and Clint, but there wasn't much hope that he would survive without immediate medical attention until Thor himself stepped forward with some Asgardian 'healing rock' that he crumbled into the bullet wounds, forcing out the projectiles and mending the injuries behind it.

"Wow." Clint commented. "Gotta get me some of that."

Steve meanwhile was staring up at the man who had shown up toward the end of the battle on a roof with a sniper rifle. He couldn't see him clearly, glimpses here and there as he packed up his gun, but something was bothering him. While it shouldn't have been said that there was something familiar about the man's shooting, Steve was observant and he could have sworn that next to Natasha, the sniper was covering Steve's back the most and barely bothering to cover his other teammates. Though, Steve supposed that other than Hawkeye, he and Nat were the most vulnerable members of the Avengers, so maybe he was reading too much into it.

He decided he'd get his explanation later and turned away, stepping over to another of his teammates. "Bruce. How are you doing?"

"Well. I got shoved through a magic portal, forced into mean and green, and now I'm wearing some dead person's clothing." Bruce said from where he sat on a broken piece of wall beside dead Chitauri. "I'm doing just peachy, and I could really go for some burgers."

Steve chuckled softly. "I'm sure we can arrange something." He put a finger to the communicator in his ear. "Rhodey, Tony. Status?"

"Still good, Captain. Thanks for asking." Tony replied, touching down near him with Rhodey. Their armor was a bit scorched, but seemed to Steve's eyes, to be still mostly functional without any sparking or initial evidence of significant breach. "So, who else noticed how easy that was?"

"Easy compared to the last two times we've had to deal with them, maybe." Steve replied with a heavy sigh. "They weren't bulked up monstrosities like the last time, at least. Still, it was good of Loki to send the Hulk, I guess."

"Yeah," Tony said, flipping up his visor. "About that. Just when Thor showed up, Jarvis informed me he'd lost contact with the tower, and who do we know who showed he could hack my stuff just by touching it?"

"Loki." Steve grit his teeth. "He was working to get our trust, convince us we were all on the same side....and then there's conveniently a Chitauri attack on an entirely different continent....shit." Frankly, he felt like saying a lot worse, but swearing wasn't going to fix the problem they now had on their hands.

"To be honest, I think his bag of cats has evolved into an entire zoo." Bruce spoke up. "He sent off Thor and Steve on a hunch about that storm, sent the rest of you here and then went outside and basically electrocuted himself. I guess Mjölnir's magic _really_ didn't agree with him and that was the best way to get it out, but....I'm not counting much for his sanity."

"He freaked out when this individual named 'Thanos' was mentioned." Steve continued, nodding slightly to Bruce, but looking at Tony. "Actually....he was outright panicked. He was badly hurt, and he told us outright he shouldn't be using his magic, but he insisted we needed to be here...." He sighed heavily. "Whoever this Thanos guy is, Loki is terrified of him, and I think anyone who can make someone like that panic is someone we should be careful of."

"Well, this is all fantastically informative but....hold on." Tony turned in Thor's direction. "Hey! Thunder down under! Come over here!"

Thor, who was still standing with Natasha, Clint and the formerly injured man, looked over and scowled at Tony, but he obligingly stepped over. "Yes, Man of Tin?"

"Oh har har." Tony arched a brow at him for the obvious return attempt at cheesy nicknaming. "Listen. Your brother's cut me off from the tower, which obviously means he's up to something nefarious. Any demigod hoodoo you can pull off to get us back to New York?"

"I am not a demigod, Stark." Thor corrected. "And seiðr is not 'hoodoo'. ....But perhaps. Gather everyone around, and we will see."

Once everyone--including the stranger with the sniper rifle and dark goggles--were gathered close around Thor, the heir to Asgard's throne lifted his hammer to the sky. "Heimdall! If the Bifröst is repaired, I implore you to open it to us!"

They waited in silence for several moments before the uncomfortable shifting started. "Well, blondie. I guess your pal--" Tony began only to be cut off when a rainbow beam slammed into the ground and took them across space to the Realm Eternal.

\------------------------------------------------------------

When Loki arrived in Central Park there were already the bodies of several humans strewn around the feet of Thanos, the Other and the small force of Chitauri they had brought with him. Loki took a quick assessment, noting the lack of Amora's presence even though the Other held the Tesseract and approached slowly, scepter held low. "Master. I came as quickly as I could."

"You were still tardy, worm." Thanos responded. "I was about to send my forces in search of you."

Loki knew that to be a lie, but he hadn't yet lost enough of his wits to point such things out. He only bowed his head briefly. "If I may ask one question?"

"Speak."

"Where is the woman?"

"The woman?" Thanos sounded amused. "Do you care about her fate?"

"Not at all. Simply that she is conspicuous in her absence."

Thanos' amusement only grew and the Space gem flashed. Amora suddenly tumbled right into Loki's arms, though he only caught her automatically and then promptly dropped her, where she crumpled limply to his feet. "She's dead." He stated flatly, taking a step back.

"As might you soon be." Thanos replied. "Now. The Power gem."

"Of course, Master." Loki brought it out, though he paused to stare at it. Something seemed strange about it in the daylight.

"Don't keep the Master waiting." The Other spoke up and Loki flinched.

"Yes, sorry. Of course." Loki stepped forward, trying desperately to review his plan of how he would get the gauntlet and turn things around on his once Master. He had thought Thanos too arrogant to bring anyone with him.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Arriving on the other end of the rainbow journey, the Avengers and tagalongs found themselves in a room that was obviously not quite finished yet. The gears that ran and swiveled the Observatory still slightly visible from gaps in the floor that hadn't been filled in yet for whatever reason, it was as well open in parts to the sky, which no doubt hindered its motion.

"My Prince." Heimdall greeted him while the humans were busy gaping at their surroundings. "What would you have of me?"

"We must get to Loki." Thor replied. "Can you see what he is about, my friend?"

"Yes." Heimdall replied, shifting the Observatory to aim at the correct location. "Dealings most foul. I wish you and your mortal companions the best of luck."

"Hey!" Tony exclaimed. "Wait! Hang o--" But Heimdall sent them away to appear in dazzling light near where Loki stood with his once master and a complement of Chitauri warriors, as well as this strange robed creature that had its eyes covered--if it had eyes at all.

Thanos snatched the gem from Loki and then promptly backhanded him with the gauntlet, causing him to stagger. Loki hissed and turned his attention on the Avengers, his hand to his face. With a sweep of his scepter, they were thrown backward and he straightened up, lowering his hand and revealing a bruise already forming.

"So the Bifröst was repaired." He said, wincing with nearly every second word. "Good for them. In fact, great for you. Now your final moments can be spent in the glory of my Master."

Thanos gave Loki an amused look, like he was a dog performing a cute trick and fit the Power gem into its place on the gauntlet. The man who Natasha had called James flung a grenade in their direction, but Loki used the scepter to hit it back toward the Avengers. Fortunately for them however, it exploded in midair. Once more Loki swept out with his staff, and once more they were forced flat. "Stay down." He advised them. "It will be far less painful that way."

Thor was the next to attempt to retaliate, but he got an outright blast from the scepter for his trouble. " _Stay down_." Loki hissed. Norns below, these 'heroes' were going to ruin everything for him.

"Enough of this." Thanos said behind him and Loki flinched, turning back to see the Power gem activating.

"Master, wait!" Loki wasn't sure what Thanos was doing, but he certain he wasn't going to like it. "I sent them after the Time gem! Surely one of--"

There was hardly any warning. A crack developed within seconds along the length of the Power gem, and then there was a violent explosion that sent Thanos and his allies flying in one direction, and Loki in the other. The concussion was so bad that it flung Amora's corpse almost all the way to where the Avengers and company had been huddled, trying to whisper a quick plan of attack before Loki would be able to retaliate again.

Loki lay on his back, staring at the sky as the dust cleared, and then he began laughing incredulously. He couldn't believe it. Mystique had tricked him. She had managed to switch the gems somehow, and had tricked him. Truly, she was his daughter through and through.

He didn't have time to fully revel in being tricked by his own flesh and blood however. The Chitauri were stirring, as was the Other, but most importantly, as was Thanos. He scrambled up, though his head was ringing, only for his foot to hit the gauntlet, which it seemed had been blown off Thanos' hand. Loki didn't stop to ponder this, for there wasn't any time left and he could only pray to the Norns that it still worked.

Donning the gauntlet, the other gems impossibly still fixed firmly in their slots, Loki called upon the Space gem and immediately felt the drain upon his lifeforce. Of _course_ Thanos was the only one with enough power to use it, but Thanos was only a powerful alien. Loki was a _god_. There was also another hope....his eyes fell upon the Tesseract and he flipped his scepter onto his back to affix there by force of magic alone, switching briefly from the Space to the Reality gem to bring the Tesseract to him.

" _WORM!!!_ " Thanos roared, and Loki flinched in spite of himself before both the Tesseract and the Space gem once again activated, a black hole ripping itself into being.

The very air itself screamed in protest, a furious wind whipping up that dragged the Chitauri and the Other into it before they had a chance to do more than register surprise while, in further defiance of natural laws, everything from Loki and behind remained untouched by the inescapable gravity while Thanos slammed both hands into the ground to anchor himself. No words could be exchanged, but bright blue eyes met one another and neither showed fear. Then, surprisingly, Thanos let go and allowed himself to be sucked in and the wind ceased, the singularity winking out as if it never was.

"Ah....it seems the X-Men weren't needed after all." Loki intoned before he swayed dangerously and fell to one knee, the Tesseract falling from his hand, and his scepter from his back.

In what seemed only moments to Loki, but was in reality nearly a minute, Thor was at his side, pulling the gauntlet off his hand while Steve picked up the Tesseract and Natasha darted in to grab the scepter. "Brother." Thor intoned. "What did you do?"

"It wasn't obvious?" Loki turned his head, eyes once more a vivid blue focusing groggily on Thor. "I was the hero."

Steve sighed explosively. "So, is that the end of it, then?" He looked around their immediate surroundings, disturbed at how peaceful it all seemed, especially considering what had just sucked in their enemies.

"For a time, at least." Loki shuddered and moved to get to his feet, eyebrow arching when the humans all shifted back from him. " _Really_ now? I've worked myself almost literally to death for the sake of your lives and your planet, and you still don't trust me?"

"We're grateful, not stupid." Tony remarked, pushing up his faceplate. "Like hey, super impressive there Prince of Stringbeans, but you've kinda been working behind our backs the entire time."

"Well, of _course_ I have." Loki shifted his gaze to look at Natasha. "But then again, so has she." His gaze shifted again. "Oh, and the Winter Soldier is sneaking off."

"What he does is none of your concern." Natasha spoke, somewhat unnerved that Loki had identified James when not even Steve had figured it out yet. "Now, are we finished here? What did you do with them?"

"I threw them into a singularity; a black hole." Loki brushed at his clothes. "They're either dead or at the other end of the universe, which might as well amount to the same thing. The Chitauri leaders are gone, either way. They shouldn't be able to cause any of us further trouble. So to answer your question, yes. It seems we're finished here." He held his hand out to Natasha. "My scepter, Romanoff."

"Where is the real Power gem?"

"With Mystique still, I imagine. She managed to switch with one of the fakes I made. If it isn't with her, then it's either with Doctor Doom or Magneto, unless she changed her tactic. I wish you luck getting it back, though the idea of that in SHIELD's hands makes me somewhat nervous. As does the Time gem. Hand that over too."

"I don't have it." Natasha said smugly. "None of us do."

Loki squinted at her, then looked off in the direction James had left. "......Damn. I see." He sighed and looked back at her. "The scepter, Romanoff. Captain, please hand my brother the Tesseract. Oh...." He sighed at Amora and stepped away from Thor to pick her up, slinging her corpse over his shoulder like a sack of grain. "I suppose Lorelei will want this back."

"Loki." Thor scowled. "Show some respect."

"For a traitor and a murderer? I think not. No such accord was granted _me_ , so why should she have such honors? Who knows? I might even be able to find her soul, even though she perished outside the Nine. We'll see. Now for _Norns sake_ , will you just give me my blasted scepter!"

"Testy." Natasha smirked when she handed it over, though Loki noticed she was quick to step back again.

"Goodbye, don't write." Clint said. "And sure as hell don't come back."

"Oh Earth has hardly seen the last of me." Loki replied, stepping back over to Thor. "Or of Thor, though we'll likely not appear together again. It has certainly been interesting, Avengers."

"Heimdall!" Thor called, and the Bifröst slammed down to take them back to Asgard.

\------------------------------------------------------------

Six months passed Asgard by. The Tesseract, Infinity Gauntlet and Chitauri scepter were all locked up securely in the Vault. Loki managed to resurrect Amora, but she returned traumatized and ended up being locked up for everyone's safety rather than because of her allegiance with the Chitauri, and suspected murder of Skadi.

But for Loki, those six months were a trial. Slander and insults against him for being a Frost Giant continued, coming from too many different directions for him to effectively combat. Fandral and Volstagg maintained that they were his friends, but they both seemed visibly nervous around him and Loki very quickly got fed up with it all.

So he hatched a plan. A plan to reset everything without his own memories being erased with it, but a plan that if it happened as he hoped, would ensure that all of his crimes were erased along with the common knowledge of his heritage. It took a few weeks more, but he finally perfected it. Special keys. Complex in plan, but once the final thing they unlocked was found, so too would his memory be. Seven keys he made, and into seven magpies he placed them. He then set the birds to alight just outside the gates with instructions to fly as far as they could once Asgard caught fire.

Then he wrote a letter to Balder, with whom he had been estranged since an accidental poisoning with mistletoe when they were adolescents. In the letter was an apology for that long ago incident and a wish to reconcile. He sent the letter through magical means to ensure that the Nornheim Queen Karnilla couldn't intercept it through the usual means, and if she so much as touched it, he would know. The very next day, Balder's reply came by the normal post, saying he would be happy to see his family again and make amends with Loki. A celebration was planned, and when Balder arrived, he requested a meeting with Loki alone.

"You are going to do it, aren't you, Loki." Balder said, standing near the door in the reception room usually reserved for diplomats from the other realms. The words sounded like a question, but the tone made it a statement and Loki furrowed his brow, glancing at the other from where he stood by the window.

"You are back in Asgard, and we are to celebrate your return." Loki's voice was puzzled. "What is it I am to be doing?"

Balder smiled slightly, the expression warm and amused. "You're about to reset the cycle. But it's a little soon, isn't it?"

Loki sighed in exasperation and turned to look at the younger god. "Enough. We have been centuries separated, but I do not remember your words being so cryptic. You are not a wordsmith, Balder. Just be clear."

Balder smiled more and Loki found himself reminded of the many ways that the younger god had infuriated him, that arrogance which had led Loki to poison him with ground up mistletoe in the first place, though at the time he hadn't intended for the Balder to nearly die from it. "You invited me here, for you intend to bring about Ragnarok." Balder stated.

Loki gave him a queer look, but inwardly he was panicking. How could Balder possibly know what he planned? That he had in truth sent the letter of apology in order to lure Balder back to Asgard where he could be killed and so be rid of the only warrior who could not die in battle before Loki let Asgard's enemies in?

"Your time in the company of Karnilla has made you strange, Balder." Loki said, crossing his arms. "Such a thing to accuse me of. I should be insulted!"

"Yet you are not." Balder pointed out, seeing through Loki's lies as he always had. "You have brought me here to kill me."

Loki snorted. "If you suspected such a thing of me, then why did you come?"

"Because I was curious." Balder shrugged as if the conversation was of a far more casual topic. "It's too soon, so I thought maybe this time I was wrong. But no, all the signs are there."

Loki forced a laugh, but it sounded manic and he knew there was no convincing Balder that he was wrong. He turned away, working his jaw. ".....There needs to be a cleansing fire."

"In time." Balder agreed, much to Loki's surprise. "But not yet. It's too soon, by several centuries at least. You'll fail."

"....I might." Loki said at length. "But I need to try. I've come too far, planned too much...."

"I'll play the part I must," Balder said, once more surprising Loki. "But this is too soon. Asgard is too strong, and she will withstand your efforts. You will fail."

"We will see." Loki replied. "But even in failure, Loki might win."

"We will see indeed." Balder agreed. "The future isn't set until the moment it becomes the present, after all."

Loki nodded and turned back to Balder. "On to the feast then, and I promise it won't be in the food this time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of Dark Paths! For those of you who suffered through this story, you were very brave. It began while Avengers was still in the theaters and now it's finally ended in the looming shadow of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. What a ride, and again; thank you for reading.


End file.
